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WHY 7,500 STEPS MAY BE THE MAGIC NUMBER "For many older people, 10,000 steps per day can be a very daunting goal,” Lee says. “We wanted to investigate whether this was necessary for

lower mortality rates in older women.” When Lee and her collaborators tracked the movements of 16,741 women, ages 62 to 101, they found that as the average number of steps taken per day

increased, the risk of mortality decreased. But the effect peaked at around 7,500 steps. So while taking more steps definitely won't hurt, it does seem to be a case of diminishing

returns. Another somewhat surprising finding was that a slow pace can be just as effective as a higher one. This was confirmed by a study published this year in the J_ournal of the American

Medical Association (JAMA)_. It found that walking at a rate of 50 steps per minute, on par with a slow stroll, was just as effective as faster paces. The overall number of steps taken was

more important than how quickly anyone took them, says Pedro F. Saint-Maurice, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute, the study's lead author. The _JAMA_ study was one

of the first to look at walking in terms of steps taken versus how long you spent doing the activity. “We know how many minutes of exercise people should be doing for health benefits, but,

surprisingly, we don't know much about step count,” Saint-Maurice says. The difference may seem small, but it can be significant Michele Stanten, a walking coach and certified fitness

instructor, points out that counting steps has the advantage of guarding against too much sitting throughout the day. “Some people might get their 30 minutes of walking in, but then be more

sedentary the rest of the day,” she notes. Doing so can also be motivating, since you get credit for all the routine things you do that don't feel like exercise — walking to your car,

or taking the stairs. “One of the appeals of counting steps is that it easily adds up all of the little bouts of walking that we've been encouraging people to do,” she says. YOUR

WALKING RX HOW MUCH TO WALK FOR BETTER SLEEP, BRAIN HEALTH AND MORE "Walking is one of the best things you can do for your health, both physically and psychologically,” says Sabrena Jo

of the American Council on Exercise. Though any walking is healthy, different studies show different thresholds for reaping specific types of benefits: * IMPROVED SLEEP QUALITY. In a 2019

study, researchers compared sleep quality in two groups of middle-aged and older adults (average age 49). One group was instructed to increase their average daily steps by 2,000 steps per

week for four weeks; the other group received no instructions. Those who took the most steps reported significantly better-quality sleep, on average, than those who walked the least. *

BETTER BRAIN HEALTH. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that walking daily had a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease and normal cognitive decline due to

aging. People who averaged 8,900 steps per day saw the greatest benefit. * CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION. Twenty minutes of moderate physical activity has been shown to reduce the cellular

inflammation associated with many chronic diseases. And women who walked for at least 40 minutes several times a week had a nearly 25 percent lower risk of heart failure, according to 2018

research. * MORE JOINT MOBILITY. A Northwestern University study found that less than 10 minutes of walking per day can help older adults with joint pain maintain independence with daily

tasks. And research supports the idea that exercise doesn't have to happen all at once to be effective. In fact, the latest physical activity guidelines did away with the recommendation

that an activity had to be done for at least 10 minutes to count toward the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity you should get weekly. “Now,” says Stanten, “every minute

— or every step — counts."