Do you REALLY need to walk 10,000 steps a day? Why experts say there's no ... trends now
Reaching the golden number of 10,000 steps a day has long been lauded as one of the best ways to keep us in peak physical and mental health.
Studies have suggested reaching the five-figure step count can cut your risk of suffering a range of serious health issues including dementia, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
But walking this far at a regular pace can take about two hours, an impractical target for many with busy lives.
However, experts say you can reap many of the same benefits of 10,000 steps by walking faster for shorter bursts or exercising for less than half an hour.
Here, MailOnline highlights this history, the science of 10,000 steps goal and asks personal trainers and exercise experts if we really need walk this amount every day...
Studies suggest the magical number can cut your risk of developing dementia, type 2 diabetes and heart disease
Walking 10,000 steps a day has long been seen as the holy grail of regular fitness.
It's automatically logged into many pedometers, fitness watches and smartphones as the default recommended step goal.
But surprisingly, the number wasn't the result of large forensic scientific study.
Instead, it was plucked out of thin air as part of a clever marketing ploy by a Japanese company trying to sell pedometers 60 years ago.
The 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games were underway at the time, and many companies in the country were trying to tap into, and profit off, an increased focus on fitness.
One company, called Yamasa, launched a pedometer called the Manpo-kei, which literally means '10,000 steps metre' in Japanese.
Although not foreseeing it at the time, they launched a global fascination with this number and daily fitness.
But the arbitrary figure was not grounded in any science at the time. Instead, it was chosen simply because it was a nice, round memorable figure.
The 10,000 steps goal originated from a clever marketing ploy by a Japanese company trying to sell pedometers in the wake of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. At that time, there was an increased focus on fitness in the host nation and firms had tried to capitalise on the craze surrounding the Games (pictured, an advert for the original gadget)
Although the original campaign to walk 10,000 steps a day wasn't based on science, researchers have since found it might have merit.
In fact, since the 1964 Olympics, studies have consistently shown that 10,000 daily steps is a good ballpark for anyone looking to stay healthy — and that it appears much more beneficial than simply sticking to 5,000.
Experts universally agree walking every day has a myriad of health benefits.
'Increasing physical activity such as your step count through walking contributes to improved cardiovascular fitness, weight management, improved mood, better sleep and enhanced cognitive function,' Lindsay Bottoms, exercise and health physiology researcher at University of Hertfordshire told MailOnline.
Walking is not only 'simple' and 'accessible', making it a 'practical' exercise for people of all ages, it also lowers the risk of many chronic illnesses, Ms Bottoms said.
It can also reduce the risk of of developing chronic
