Update to 10,000 steps advice as 4,000 enough to cut serious illness

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Older women who clock up 4,000 steps a day just once or twice a week cut their chance of early death by 26%, research suggests. It is also the amount people walk, rather than the number of days on which they walk, that is important for slashing death rates and the risk of heart disease, experts said. ‌

They suggested that benchmarks such as needing to walk 10,000 steps every single day are wrong, adding “there is no ‘better’ or ‘best’ pattern to take steps”. They said moving is important and “individuals can undertake physical activity in any preferred pattern”. ‌

The study found that, compared with women who were fairly sedentary, those who achieved 4,000 steps per day on one or two days days a week had a 26% lower risk of death from any cause and a 27% lowe