Walking 10 thousand steps per day is a familiar health advice. This physical activity is considered to maintain health while reducing some of the risk of disease.
The 10 thousand steps per day walk is initiated in Japan as a marketing campaign for the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. A company also created a tool called Manpo-Kei which measures 10,000 steps to encourage Japanese citizens to live a more active lifestyle.
However, walking 10 thousand steps per day is not easy for some people to do. Medical journalist Michael Mosley and Professor Rob Copeland of Sheffield Hallam University decided to conduct a small experiment on health advice from the past.
In this experiment, Mosley and Copeland compared the advantages or positive effects of walking 10 thousand steps per day with an alternative physical activity called Active 10. Active 10 is a campaign launched by Public Health England where the recommendation is to walk for 10 minutes quickly three times per day.
Moesly and Copeland divided participants into these experiments into two groups. The first group is required to walk 10 thousand steps per day. The distance from 10 thousand steps is equivalent to 5 miles.
The second group was asked to walk fast for 10 minutes three times per day. The average distance traveled by this method is 1.5 miles with about three thousand steps. As reported by the Independent, the second group was seen performing fewer physical activities than the first group. But it turns out the benefits gained by the second group more.
"The Active 10 group actually performs moderate to 30 percent more intense physical activity than the 10-thousand-step group even though they (Active 10 groups) move less," Copeland explained.
Copeland said the intensity in exercising determines the health benefits a person may get. The best health benefits, go Copeland, can only be obtained when a person doing physical activity with moderate intensity.
In addition to exercising more intensely, the participants also judged a 10-minute quick walk is much easier to do than a leisurely walk of 10 thousand steps. The concept of fast walking for 10 minutes with frequency three times a day can be considered a good alternative for the community, especially office workers