RESEARCH:The 10,000 Steps Program
The 10,000 steps program, which was popularized by Japan, is compared to walking about 5 miles. Most people can complete this task in 30 – 60 minutes, which is the recommended amount of daily exercise by the Center for Disease Control. In a recent study that I conducted, we put the 10,000 steps program to the test.
In our research, we used two subjects, who walked for 5 minutes at 3.0 mph, then ran for 5 minutes at twice the walking rate, 6 mph, which we assumed would generate twice as many steps. The subjects were a female, who was 62” tall and weighed 51.4 kg and a male, who was 74” tall and weighed 81.8 kg. We recorded their heart rate and VO2 each minute of the test. At the end of each period we recorded their total number of steps.
The results showed that the female took 541 steps at 3 mph and 812 at 6 mph. The male took 480 steps at 3 mph and 624 steps at 6 mph. The female had a VO2 of .71 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 1.95 at the end of her run. The male had a VO2 of 1.17 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 2.84 at the end of her run. The female had a heart of 100 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 156 at the end of her run. The male had a heart rate of 128 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 189 at the end of his run. The male took 11% fewer steps than the female did at 3 mph and 23% fewer steps at 6 mph. However the male had a higher heart rate and a higher VO2 reading at the end of each period and burned approximately 25% more calories.
In conclusion, the 10,000 steps program is a good program to make people aware of the need to get active, as well as a way to motivate them to track their activity throughout the day. However, as our study showed the 10,000 steps program should only be used as a guideline to an exercise program. Our female subject took more steps, but burned fewer calories. These results could be due to the twelve inch height difference, the weight difference of 30.4 kg, or because our female subject was in better shape than our male subject. The bottom line is get active & stay active.
In our research, we used two subjects, who walked for 5 minutes at 3.0 mph, then ran for 5 minutes at twice the walking rate, 6 mph, which we assumed would generate twice as many steps. The subjects were a female, who was 62” tall and weighed 51.4 kg and a male, who was 74” tall and weighed 81.8 kg. We recorded their heart rate and VO2 each minute of the test. At the end of each period we recorded their total number of steps.
The results showed that the female took 541 steps at 3 mph and 812 at 6 mph. The male took 480 steps at 3 mph and 624 steps at 6 mph. The female had a VO2 of .71 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 1.95 at the end of her run. The male had a VO2 of 1.17 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a VO2 of 2.84 at the end of her run. The female had a heart of 100 at the end of her 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 156 at the end of her run. The male had a heart rate of 128 at the end of his 5 minute walk and a heart rate of 189 at the end of his run. The male took 11% fewer steps than the female did at 3 mph and 23% fewer steps at 6 mph. However the male had a higher heart rate and a higher VO2 reading at the end of each period and burned approximately 25% more calories.
In conclusion, the 10,000 steps program is a good program to make people aware of the need to get active, as well as a way to motivate them to track their activity throughout the day. However, as our study showed the 10,000 steps program should only be used as a guideline to an exercise program. Our female subject took more steps, but burned fewer calories. These results could be due to the twelve inch height difference, the weight difference of 30.4 kg, or because our female subject was in better shape than our male subject. The bottom line is get active & stay active.
