Steps to a healthier lifestyle

Harry Bullmore investigates the smallest changes in diet and exercise one can make to get results and start living better

- Harry Bullmore

Chances are, you’re incredibly busy. Most people are always on their smartphones, providing an ever-present tether to work. Add this to all your other commitments and it’s no wonder fitness is falling down the pecking order.

As a result, the blanket prescriptions of 10,000 steps a day, eight hours of sleep each night, home-cooked meals where possible and hour-long gym sessions read like a pipe dream for most. So, how much time and effort do you really need to commit if you want to maintain a fit and functional body for decades to come?

According to experts, it could be less than you think. More is generally better (sleep, exercise, daily steps and so on), but most people can achieve impressive results by adopting just a few sustainable healthy behaviours.

Walking

Walking 10,000 steps a day is seen as a holy grail of health by some. And while moving this much is going to do your health plenty of favours, the number itself has “no scientific basis”, according to a 2023 study led by the University of Granada.

This research instead concludes that 8,000 is “the optimal number of [daily] steps at which most people obtain the greatest benefits”, and “the pace at which you walk provides additional benefits” – walking faster can deliver more health perks.

Further research, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiolo , identified “a significant inverse association between daily step count and all-cause mortality... with the more the better over the cut-off point of 3,867 steps per day for all-cause mortality and only 2,337 steps for cardiovascular mortality [death related to diseases of the heart or blood vessels]”. These totals are some way short of 10,000 steps per day, but still have plenty to offer.