Is 10,000 steps an appropriate goal for fitness?

I'm sure if we were asked "What is the recommended step count for an adult a day?" We could all answer 10,000 steps. What where does this come from and what is the strength of evidence behind this? There has been a lot of evidence in the press over the past few months, and with a critical evaluating head on, it is very easy to critique the evidence. I decided to write this several days ago based upon a screenshot of my daily exercise activity and a subsequent conversation. Below are 3 genuine, concurrent days from my own exercise tracker:

These were taken over a Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Three very different readings. All have four of the targets in green and all have one in the blue (signifying I haven't achieved my target for that day!) Each day was different in exercise for me too. Details are outlined below. The inspiration for this review came when a friend of mine who saw my Saturday results questions how I had not hit my 10,000 steps. But let's look at image number 1 in more detail:

On this day, I was on a course. The course was practical based. It involved a lot of high intensity work. Whilst my step count is <10,000, look at my minutes of exercise. 435 minutes equates to 7.25 hours!

I also burned off just short of 6000 calories. This is the calorific intake required for a South Pole explorer! I also covered in excess of 5 miles. Yet I did not cover 10,000 steps or the equivalent of 10 floors.

The following day, we spent time in our local park having fun playing tennis for 90 minutes with the 2 young boys. In the afternoon, I was pottering around in the garden, getting it ready for spring.

Whilst I almost covered 16,000 steps, I barely burned off half of the calories from the previous day! Whilst I covered almost 50% more with regards to mileage, I only managed to count up just over 90 minutes of exercise. However, my stair ascent was well below the suggested target.

The final day in this example is the follow day, Monday. I work for the NHS on this day and surprising, can be a moderately sedentary role. This is why myself and my colleagues decide to go for a 30 minute walk after our morning clinic. This highlights I achieved my suggested target target in all except mileage. Due to circumstances, I was unable to go for a run that evening, something I would normally partake in. 3 concurrent days, 3 active days but in 3 very different ways.

Which one of these correct? This is the purpose of this blog, none! Each day I have been active. each day I have performed some level of exercise. One of the 3 days, I did not achieve my 10,000 steps. 1 day I did not cover 5 miles. 2 of the days I did not cover 10 flights of stairs! What should we be doing?

Public Health England still recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day! They have since amended this with a couple of amendments.

1. Alternatively, a person should perform 150 minutes of moderate exercise per day. 2. Which should now include 2 sessions of intense activity per week.

3. For weight loss, moderate activity should be performed for 45 minutes per day.

Nowhere in the Governments recommendations is 10,000 steps a day stipulated. The guidelines are very vague and that is a good thing! 1 person's 30 minutes of moderate activity is not the same as another's. Someone who has performed little exercise for 30 years will find a gentle stroll moderate exercise, whereby an elite athlete will require more effort to sustain moderate activity. And that's the beauty of this! As you get fitter, your body's idea of moderate and intensive activity changes with you. How can I measure this? Put simply, on my activity tracker, I have a heart rate monitor. It has three levels. Normal, moderate and intense activity. You can gauge what activity it takes to get your heart rate into moderate and intense accordingly. Let's not also forget, weight loss is a simple equation: "Calories in < calories out!" Don't get swamped by achieving the magic 10,000 steps a day. Monitor your calorific input and output, gauge what for you is moderate and intense activity and use those as your guidelines. That is my take home message from this. All of these figures are guidelines. Eat well, drink fluids and take part in regular, fun activities.