Science in Small Bites
“Two things are infinite, the universe and stupidity, and I’m not sure about the universe.” Albert Einstein
Segment one: Is it necessary to walk 10,000 steps a day to stay in shape?
Although originally an idiom coined by astrophysicists, “A body in motion stays in motion,” it aptly applies to humans as well.
If you’re a person who walks, runs or hikes to stay in shape, you may base the gold standard of such exercise on achieving at least 10,000 steps per day.
Fitbits and most pedometers are designed to give you a pat on the back when you have reached 10,000 steps – my pedometer emits a victory tune much like that of Rocky Balboa when he runs up the 72 steps of the Phil-adelphia Museum of Art.
But did you ever stop to wonder why it is 10,000 steps? Is there some special significance to this specific number of steps? Maybe, like me, you assume the number of steps came from a scientific study. But that’s not the case at all.
The 10,000-steps-a-day doctrine originated in Japan in 1964 during the Tokyo Olympics. Apparently, the Japanese government was concerned that their citizens were not getting enough exercise – the historically thin Japanese were starting to gain weight and having associated health problems.
So, they designed a pedometer called the manpo-kei, which translates to “The 10,000-Step Meter.” And the number of steps comes from a Japanese character that looks like a person walking and also means 10,000 (See illustration pg.8).
OK, all that’s quite interesting, but let’s get off the health myth highway and check in with the science community.
So, what does scientific research have to say about this magical number that will ensure we are healthy? Well, it’s not necessarily 10,000 steps we must take to avoid poor health.
No fewer than 57 controlled studies involving 160,000 adults have examined the number of steps that confer the greatest health benefit, and the science-backed number is 7,000 steps.
If you walk at a moderate level for 7,000 steps, you can expect the following results:
A 47% reduction in the chance of premature death.
A 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
A 14% lower risk of Type II diabetes.
A 38% lower risk of dementia.
A 22% lower risk of depression.
A 28% lower risk of falls.
I don’t think anyone could ask for more health benefits from just walking 7,000 steps. My 7,000-step walk at a moderate pace takes approximately one hour and 10 minutes. If I push myself, I can reach 7,000 steps in less than an hour and get an even better aerobic workout. That is just a fraction of our 24-hour day, and it’s very little to ask of our bodies, considering the health benefits you reap.
That said, even if you walk at a moderate pace for 2,000 to 4,000 steps, you still get some health benefits.
Likewise, if you walk faster, you will burn more calories and, therefore, lose weight. However, the health benefits listed above will plateau at 7,000 steps.
If you are a middle-aged or older person reading this article, one more thing can benefit your health that many fail to appreciate: anaerobic exercise. As we age, our muscles become even more important for protecting us from falls and helping us stay active. We should begin resistance training in our 30s, when we begin to lose muscle mass, which amounts to a 3% to 5% loss per decade.
Around age 60, we begin losing muscle mass at an accelerated rate, but you can stop this unnecessary loss with weightlifting. Of course, you’ll want to consult your doctor first. Still, you have several options for maintaining muscle mass, including lifting weights, using resistance bands, or using muscle-building machines like those found in gyms.
If you decide to improve your strength with weight training, regardless of the form, please consider your increased need for protein. And don’t get sucked into the current protein craze – I’m sure you have noticed that nearly everything at the grocery store now contains oodles of protein. You can get too much protein, so consult your doctor about how much and when you should consume it.
The previous bite of science is a good segue into a related health topic. If you’re currently sitting, please stand up and walk around a bit before continuing.
Segment Two: Sitting is the new smoking, so get up and move around, please!
Science Friday is a weekly radio show and podcast about all things science, including technology, space, nature, medicine, recent discoveries and scientific research. As it happens, this week’s show on the effects of sitting fits neatly with the theme of this episode of Science in Small Bites.
Sitting can be deadly, and that is no exaggeration. Sitting at a desk all day staring at a screen is a consequence of modern technology, and inactivity comes at a cost.
B.J. Gudmundsson’s Preserving Pocahontas is a weekly feature in The Pocahontas Times. One thing that stands out in those black-and-white photographs, going back more than 100 years, is that they depict people who are clearly fitter than many of today’s residents.
In those days, people generally did physically demanding jobs and, equally apparent, ate real food. As Michael Pollan said in his book, In Defense of Food, “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”
Beginning as far back as the Industrial Revolution and continuing with each new form of technology right up to the present day, labor-saving inventions increased productivity and reduced human activity. We went from swinging a scythe to sitting at a desk, staring at a screen. It was bound to have a profound and deleterious effect on our health.
In Manoush Zomorodi’s book, Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your WellBeing, she says, “We know that the average 19-year-old, it’s estimated, sits as much as the average 60-year-old. And that’s not because they’re lazy. We’ve built this world around sitting in front of screens. And it requires sitting on our butts.”
Zomorodi suggests taking a five-minute walking break every half hour. If this is too disruptive, take your break every hour or every other hour, with a caveat. The first suggestion will garner you the most health benefits, while the latter two provide less.
Research at the Columbia University Medical School is focused on determining the least amount of movement the body needs to avoid an early death. And the recommendations, once again, suggest a regimen of five minutes of activity for every half-hour of sitting in front of a computer screen. In a controlled, large-population study, this resulted in lower glucose and lower blood pressure. Additionally, subjects reported improved focus on their work and less fatigue at the end of the shift. Give it a try; what do you have to lose?
And those trendy standing desks from a few years ago; they carry risks too. A recent study confirmed that standing for more than two hours per day increases the risk of muscle pain, varicose veins, and circulatory issues, and it does nothing to protect your heart.
Ken Springer
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