Let’s Get Moving with Maria: Steps to a healthier you

SALT LAKE CITY — We have been told by campaigns, pedometers, and our health apps that the magic number of steps we need to reach every day to stay healthy is 10,000, but is that true?

In the latest episode of Let’s Get Moving with Maria, Maria talks with Brett McIff, the Physical Activities Coordinator for the Utah Department of Health, about a new study that says getting 7,000 steps daily is proven to have amazing benefits to your life.

In the study there were 2,110 participants, aged 38 to 50, with a mean follow-up of 10.8 years. According to McIff, this means we can make great assumptions on the data they studied.

Every step counts!

One of the biggest take aways from the study is that the participants taking at least 7,000 steps per day, compared with those taking fewer than 7,000 steps per day, had a 50% to 70% lower risk of mortality.

This gives a great place to start if we want to better our overall health at a later stage in our lives.

The participants who saw a bigger increase in their overall health were the ones whose routines went from a few thousand steps to the 7,000 steps.

Do what works for you

This doesn’t mean you need to keep a daily log of your steps. McIff recommends to keep doing what works for you, if you use other ways to keep track from like walking for a certain amount of time or walking for a certain distance, keep doing so.

Intensity was not measured, and it is up to your discretion on how intense your workout is.

Of course, if you want to do more steps a day, McIff recommends to keep doing so, it can only be better for you and will keep you healthier.

Listen to the full episode!

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