How many steps is enough?

Everyone knows the magic number: 10,000 steps. Except it isn't magic — it started as a marketing slogan. Here's what the science actually says, and your step target for every FLF level.

Walking is the closest thing to a miracle drug

Walking is one of the best and simplest things you can do for your health. Taking more steps every day helps your heart, lowers your risk of diabetes and cancer, and even protects your brain as you age.[2] People who walk about 5,800 steps a day are around 40% less likely to die early than those who take only about 3,600.[3]

The more you walk, the more benefits you get — up to a point. Every extra 1,000 steps per day lowers your risk of dying by about 15%.[1] Double your steps from 4,000 to 8,000 a day and you cut your risk of dying early roughly in half.[4] Even as few as ~3,900 steps a day already makes a measurable difference.[1]

Every step counts — there is no magic number

You don't have to hit a perfect number. Adding just 500 to 1,000 more steps a day already helps.[1] Most of the health benefits top out around 8,000–10,000 steps a day for middle-aged adults, and around 6,000–8,000 for older adults.[3] If you can reach 10,000 — great. But don't let someone else's number stop you from starting with your own.

Level up, one thousand at a time

That's why we don't give you one target — we give you five. Find the level that matches your current daily average (your phone already counts it), own that level for two weeks, then move up one. The key is to move more than you do now. Every bit helps — and Level 5 isn't going anywhere.

While you're here: find your pushup level →

References

  1. Banach, M., et al. (2023). The association between daily step count and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a meta-analysis. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 30(18), 1975–1985. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwad229
  2. del Pozo Cruz, B., Ahmadi, M. N., Lee, I.-M., & Stamatakis, E. (2022). Prospective associations of daily step counts and intensity with cancer and cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality and all-cause mortality. JAMA Internal Medicine, 182(11), 1139. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.4000
  3. Paluch, A. E., et al. (2022). Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts. The Lancet Public Health, 7(3), e219–e228. doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(21)00302-9
  4. Saint-Maurice, P. F., et al. (2020). Association of daily step count and step intensity with mortality among US adults. JAMA, 323(12), 1151. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.1382

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