Ten thousand steps a day, science? Is it reliable? Hear what the experts have to say

10,000 steps a day: science walks

I don't know when to start, walking 10,000 steps a day has become a habit for many people. Many people insist on punching in the WeChat circle of friends every day. So, does walking 10,000 steps really help with health? Science walking, do you really do?

Citizen Zhou Hongjie: Come out in the morning, walk for more than an hour, sleep at noon in the afternoon, come out at two or three o'clock in the afternoon to take a walk, eat dinner, and then walk.

Reporter: How many steps do you take in a day?

Citizen Zhou Hongjie: When there is more than one day, you can walk 10,000 steps, and when you are less, you can walk 50,000 or 6,000 steps. I basically don't get cold in winter, and activities are good.

Citizen Zhang Daohai: I can't walk a lot every day, up to 5 kilometers in the morning. Older, physical (eating). I can go, but I don't dare to go more.

Citizen Liu Qi: Now it is basically going to work and leave work, all by walking. We young people should not lie flat like this, and we should also exercise appropriately. In this way, if you walk 10,000 steps a day, you feel that if you go to bed at night, you can sleep very quickly, and there is no insomnia.

Walking posture: avoid bowing your head with your chest and don't take too large a stride

Indeed, many young people are also exercising by walking. According to the data of the sports and fitness platform Keep, the users who choose to walk exercise account for about half of the running users, which is 5 times more than the cycling users. Among them, female users prefer walking exercises more than men.

Experts said that long-term adherence to walking fitness can improve the level of cardiopulmonary endurance of the body, thereby promoting the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases and reducing the risk of death. Patients with high blood pressure and diabetes can also alleviate their symptoms by walking moderately. However, experts also remind that although walking is relatively gentle compared to other exercise methods, the wrong posture can also cause damage.

Hu Kun, director of the Health Intervention Department of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, member of the Health Management Expert Committee of beijing Health Management Association: In the process of walking, we must pay attention to the following points: First, we must keep our chests up and close our abdomen, and avoid bowing our heads with our chests. Second, pay attention to our feet, do not have the inner and outer eights. Third, we must pay attention not to take too large stride, and we should increase our speed through cadence.

Harvard Medical School: Ten thousand steps is not the gold standard Different groups of people have different needs

So, is there really a scientific basis for punching in 10,000 steps a day? Experts said that whether it is walking or other sports, we must do what we can and avoid comparing with each other. According to medical experts, harvard medical school preventive medicine experts have done a population study, the results show that when the number of steps in the population is very small, the mortality rate is high. When the population steps exceeded 4400 steps, the mortality rate was significantly reduced.

Wu Hao, chief physician of the Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University: With the increase in the number of steps, the mortality rate will further decrease, but after more than 7500 steps, the mortality rate has not changed further. This means that more than 7500 steps have not received additional benefits, so here is a reminder that 10,000 steps is not the gold standard, and there are different needs for different groups of people. For example, for people who rarely exercise, increasing the number of steps by 2,000 steps a day may bring good health benefits. For middle-aged and elderly friends, some people forcibly reach 10,000 steps, which may be a kind of harm.

10,000 steps a day: Avoid misunderstandings

So, how many steps should ordinary people take to be appropriate? Are there any suggested step recommendations? In addition, what are the misunderstandings about walking that need to be avoided?

Ordinary people can walk up to 8,000 steps

Hu Kun, director of the Health Intervention Department of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, member of the Health Management Expert Committee of beijing Health Management Association: The number of steps that ordinary people walk can generally reach 8,000 steps. Four to five thousand steps is a step to meet the needs of our daily life, avoiding a sedentary state. And the three thousand steps that are needed is an additional one to continuously brisk walk to achieve a role in improving cardiopulmonary endurance levels. What speed is appropriate to reach? It's that we're walking, slightly breathless, and then I can talk, but I can't sing. Reaching this state, then it means that the speed at which you walk is more appropriate.

Three groups of people are not suitable for walking for a long time

Experts specifically point out that there are three groups of people who are not suitable for walking for a long time. The first is the coronary heart disease population, if you exercise for a long time, it will cause excessive cardiac load, easy to induce cardiovascular events; secondly, obese people, too large weight, will cause excessive burden on the lower limbs, easy to cause damage; the third type is the lower limb bone and joint disease or injury of the people, walking time is too long, will cause damage or the degree of disease aggravation.

Wu Hao, chief physician of the Department of Neurosurgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University: For example, patients with cervical spondylosis, cervical spondylosis is often weak in the lower limbs, and walking 10,000 steps is very likely to increase the risk of falling safely and bring additional injuries. If a patient with lumbar spinal stenosis walks more than a certain distance, his lower extremities are very painful. Pain, numbness, at this time must sit down and rest, and forced walking ten thousand steps, can only make the patient get additional harm.

Leg pain generally requires reduced exercise

So, if you have leg pain, can you continue to walk? According to experts, many people will have the experience of sudden weakness or pain in the knee joint when walking, which may be caused by patella joint disorders, knee osteoarthritis or lumbar disc herniation.

There are also people who walk, there will be calf muscle pain, stop to rest for a while and then relieved, then it is likely to suffer from peripheral blood vessel disease of the lower limbs. Experts suggest that this situation should be examined as soon as possible, do not hold on to exercise.

Avoid walking on hard ground such as cement floors and asphalt roads

Experts also suggest that you can try to choose a time when the temperature is more suitable in the morning or afternoon, go to the outdoor walk, especially in the park with fitness trails, and avoid walking on hard ground and slopes such as cement and asphalt roads.

Hu Kun, director of the Health Intervention Department of Beijing Xiaotangshan Hospital, member of the Health Management Expert Committee of the Beijing Health Management Association: For the elderly, or people who are relatively weak, and people who have no exercise habits, it is still recommended to walk. Because relatively speaking, the intensity of exercise is not very large. Then for young people or people with a certain sports foundation, it is still recommended to run. Because running is more stimulating to the body than walking. Having a good stimulus can better improve the health level of our body.

(CCTV reporter Yu Jingying, Shandong Tv, Zibo Station, Zhang Zhen, Linzitai, Zhao Xuemei)