My wife, the runner, always makes sure that she gets at least 10,000 steps a day. That’s what everyone says is healthy. Here’s the thing. That was never actually medical advice. The 10k steps thing was part of a marketing campaign in 1964 for pedometers made by a Japanese company. It caught on and now everyone takes it as gospel.
Finally, an actual study was done at the University of Massachusetts. Over 11 years, they kept track of the step counts of thousands of people. And they found that the more steps you take, the better. But, 7,000 steps seemed to be important. People who hit 7,000 steps a day were 50 to 70 percent less likely to have premature death. However many steps you take, walking has been proven to increase creativity, keep your brain working younger, and numerous other benefits from your head to your toes.