Adding 500 steps daily cuts all-cause mortality risk by 7%. Reaching 3,800 steps lowers dementia risk by 25%, while 5,000 steps reduces depression. The sweet spot for most people is 7,000 to 9,000 steps a day, which takes about 10 minutes more than your current routine.
what is the typical person getting in right now? And then what's your prescription? And not just how much for the day, but also when, all of that.
I think you have to look at everyone's baseline. So where are they coming in along the walking spectrum? If you have someone that's at 2,000 steps per day, a little bit goes a long way. So if I'm at 2,000 steps per day, increasing by 500 steps per day starts to decrease all-cause mortality by about 7%. If you get to 3,800 steps per day, day, you will start to see reductions in dementia by not small numbers. That's 25%. We jump up to 5,000, you start to reduce the risks of depression. Taking your baseline and starting to increase. And when you think about how many steps to take in 5 minutes, for example, 5 minutes is about 500 steps. So just to put that into perspective, if you wanted to increase by 1,000 steps per day, you walk for 10 more minutes. Very doable. But the magic, the sweet spot is anywhere from 7,000 to 9,000 steps per day.
