How many steps should I take a day?

Current guidelines suggest you should strive for 10,000 steps per day. 10,000 steps equate to approximately 5 miles. However, your personal health, wellness, and fitness goals should play a factor in determining how many steps you strive for each day. For example, youth and adolescents should strive for a minimum of one hour of physical activity per day and oftentimes easily exceed 10,000 steps. Conversely, if you’re currently sedentary or have a chronic disease such as heart disease or diabetes, slowly work your way up to 10,000 steps.

10,000 steps a day is recommended for most days, however there are other exercises that can bring this number down. If you are riding a bike for 30 minutes your steps can be reduced by up to 5000 steps. Cardio classes such as Zumba or kickboxing can also make you exempt from about 5000 steps. Swimming laps is a high calorie burn exercise that you can do for one hour and eliminate up to 7000 of those 10,000 steps. The important thing to do is to move that body and on the days you cannot get to a class or on a bike, be sure and get in those 10,000 steps. 

In general 10,000 steps is a great bench mark. You may find it more convenient measuring in time vs. steps. A 30 minute or more walk per day, while changing walking speeds, will produce more quality steps and an efficient workout.