Kelly McGonigal's research found that people who walk fewer than 5,649 steps daily show increased anxiety and lower life satisfaction. The U.S. average is 4,774 steps. Brian Johnson tracks his own steps with a Suunto watch and aims for 11,000 daily to fight depression and anxiety.
Questions this video answers
5,649 steps per day
4,774 steps per day
4,961 steps per day
11,000+ steps per day
14,298 steps (7‑day average)
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Optimize plus one. Did you know that scientists have identified a threshold for your step count under which you make yourself more vulnerable for anxiety and depression? Yep, it's nuts. Check this out. In Kelly McGonigal's fantastic new book called the Joy of Movement, she tells us, and I quote, the average daily step count required to induce feelings of anxiety and depression and decrease satisfaction with life is 5,649. The typical American takes 4,774 steps per day. Across the globe, the average is 4,961. End quote. Yikes. Let's repeat that. The average daily step count required to induce feelings of anxiety and depression and decreased satisfaction with life is 5649. You gotta love that precision, huh? And the typical American falls below that threshold at 4,774 steps per day, while the average human across the globe also falls below that threshold at 4,961 steps. All of which begs the question, how many steps are you getting on average per day? For curious Souls, I target 11,000 plus steps per day. And my suunto watch tells me that my average over the last seven days is 14,298. Note number one. This is one of those times when it's really wise to do a little measuring as per our/1 on want to improve measure? Check that one out. Simply using a pedometer increases step counts by a mile. Side note here, I'd recommend not using your phone, maybe a Fitbit or a watch of some kind, phones we want to untether from, etc. Back to this note number two. I didn't know about the fact that scientists actually identified a step threshold for depression when we set our baseline target of 10,000 steps a day for our optimized coaches. But now I'm even more bullish on the importance of bringing attention to to this simple measure of movement. And that's today's plus one. Let's sidestep depression and anxiety one step at a time today. Plus one plus one plus one step after step after step.
