American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and the Mayo Clinic all promote 10,000 steps per day to improve overall health. I don’t believe there is anything magical about the 10,000 step goal, but having a goal each day to monitor and improve your activity throughout the day is important.
Why 10,000 Steps?
10,000 is an arbitrary number, it originated as a marketing ploy since the Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a person walking. It has stuck because it is still a nice round number that’s easy to remember. For many people, it’s a push but not impossible. However for some people it is a huge feat and for others I’m sure it comes very easily. Some research indicates that the magic number may be closer to 7,000 – 8,000 steps. However, I believe that any increase in daily steps is beneficial and for me, that means going for 10,000 steps per day.
10,000 per Day Streak
I’ve tried keeping 10,000 steps a day as a streak without missing a day. I have made it for as many as 63 days in a row. Personally it ended up feeling like a chore, I’d try to make goals for myself throughout the day, but really I would end up going out every night to walk for anywhere between 30 and 70 minutes.
10,000 per Day Average
Another way to look at this is an average, this works well since there’s less pressure on hitting it every day, this lets you have some lighter days as long as you also have some heavier days such as the days you go for a run, especially a long run.
What I Do
I have found that 10,000 steps a day is a good push for me. Without working out, I will naturally end up around 4,000-5,000 per day, though there are days I’m closer to 3,000 and days I’m closer to 7,000. With my workouts I generally end up around 10,000 – 12,000 at least 5-6 days a week. Garmin hosts monthly challenges every month for 300,000 steps (regardless of days so it’s actually about 9,677 to 10,715 per day). I monitor these and use the day of the month to keep score. For instance, if it’s the 9th of a month, I like to be over 90,000. If I’m close, this is enough inspiration to push myself to fit in an extra walk. If I’m above this, it makes me feel better and I naturally seem to stay more active and maintain that. I have an item on my to-do list and check my progress against my goal every day. My Garmin smart watch also shows me my daily steps on the home screen, which helps me stay aware throughout the day.
I don’t make it every month. In 2025, I averaged 10,272 steps per day, but missed my goal for 4 months. For 3 months I made my goal but by less than 10,000 steps. January 2026 I missed it again, ending at 256,810. I started off on the wrong foot because I completed the marathon on December 31st (a day worth 73,361 steps, ending the month at 497,803 steps) and didn’t move much the next several days. When I was sick, I also didn’t make my daily goal for a week. February was improved, but I still didn’t make it. March and April I did pull it off.
What I Recommend
Pick a daily number that works for you, it should be a bit of a stretch but something that’s realistic. Once you have a goal in mind, make that an average target; this will allow you to have bad days as long as you’re balancing them with good days. If the streak works better for you, that’s also an option, but I found it to have too much pressure without much of a reward. Remember to check your steps regularly. Have an idea of where your daily steps are and should be, why does it vary? Are there things you can implement every day to help? Look for opportunities to get extra steps, park further away, get up to stretch your legs and take a lap around the office, avoid moving sidewalks are all ideas to add a bit extra. Another thing I found helpful is to estimate your walking steps per minute, if I need 1,000 more steps for the day, I know that takes me about 10 minutes, which helps me get inspired to get out and finish it up.
Summary
While 10,000 steps is an arbitrary amount, there is nothing arbitrary about pushing yourself to be more active throughout the day. Set your goal and push yourself to do more each day, taking the small opportunities to do a bit of walking when most people would not. This is an example of a small change that will help your progress in the long run (literally and figuratively).