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What’s your step goal?

If you had asked someone about 10 years ago, you might have gotten a blank stare.

But with the explosion in popularity of fitness trackers and step counters, it is easy to step count. Step counting has become so popular that there is even an unofficial benchmark of 10,000 steps per day. Some fitness trackers have even called 10,000 daily steps the “magical number.”

While there’s no doubt it’s a great idea to increase your daily activity, the question remains: does walking 10,000 steps help lose weight? Let’s find out what science says.

Do I need to reach a goal of 10,000 steps a day to lose weight?

Some claim that individuals can lose a pound of fat a week just by taking 10,000 steps a day because of the potential to burn 3,500 calories from walking. As a general rule of thumb, a pound of fat contains around 3,500 calories. If you create an average caloric deficit of 500 calories over 7 days, that’s equal to 3,500 calories—good for a pound of weight loss per week.

Unfortunately, that calculation of ‘10,000 steps a day = 3,500 calories burned a week’ uses a specific body type, so this may not apply to you.

To understand why, let’s break this claim down.

How many calories do you burn from 10,000 steps?

Any estimation of how many calories you burn from an exercise like walking or running depends on how heavy you are. On average, heavier people use more energy to move than lighter people. Most rough estimates revolve around 100 calories burned per mile for a 180-pound person.

How many miles are 10,000 steps? On average, 10,000 steps are going to come out to be roughly 5 miles. So assuming you weigh 80kg pounds, then yes, by simple mathematics, 100 calories x 5 miles equals 500 calories. Over a week, that becomes 3,500 calories.

But if you are lighter or heavier, you will burn less/more calories while taking the same number of steps or walking the same distance.

If you were 55kg, in that same mile you would only burn 60 calories. Calculate that over a week and that only becomes 2,100 calories, meaning that you are 1,400 calories short of reaching that 3,500 calorie goal.

How Far is 10,000 Steps: Walking Speed and Distance

Before you decide to put in the distance and time, do not forget about speed. Even if you are at that 180-pound range, the calories you burn from walking depend on the intensity, or speed, of your walk. The average walking speed is about 3 miles per hour and according to the Mayo Clinic, the number of calories you’ll burn depends on your walking speed.

For a 180-pound person, a leisurely 30-minute walk at 2 mph yields a burn of 102 calories, but walk at a more moderate intensity (3.5 mph) in the same 30-minute walk and the calorie burn increases by 54% to 157 calories.

Why? It’s simple—the faster the pace, the greater your heart rate, and the more calories you can burn covering the same distance. The sources that suggest you can average a weight loss of a pound a week from walking typically assume you walk at the pace necessary to cover the estimated 5-mile distance.

If you deviate from either of the above conditions, your results may differ.

But even if you reach 10,000 steps, all of that effort can almost entirely be irrelevant if you aren’t careful—weight loss from walking largely assumes your caloric intake stays stable.

You Can’t Walk Away From Your Diet

There’s no doubt that walking leads to more calories burned throughout the day. However, without understanding your net caloric balance, walking 10,000 steps, 15,000 steps, or even 20,000 steps a day might not be enough to cause any meaningful fat loss or improvements in body composition.

To achieve fat loss, you need to burn more calories than you get from your food. That’s called a caloric deficit.

For example, let’s say that you need 1,800 calories a day to maintain your current body weight, but you have a daily caloric intake of 2,300. Assuming your 10,000 steps equal 500 calories burned (which, as shown above, is far from guaranteed), you’d only be bringing yourself to a net caloric balance of zero, meaning the 10,000 steps you are taking are only helping you maintain your current weight, not lose the weight.

To better explain, let’s look at two examples.

Example 1: No Fat Loss with Caloric Balance

For our 180-pound person, they burn 1,800 calories naturally (a.k.a. their metabolism) throughout the day. Add 500 calories from the 10,000 steps walked, and we are now at 2,300 total calories burned.

Calories Naturally Burned (1,800) + Calories Burned from 10,000 steps (500) = 2,300 Total Calories Burned (TCB)

Now imagine that person has a caloric intake (food consumed) of 2,300.

2,300 (Total Calories Burned) – 2,300 (Caloric Intake) = 0 (Caloric Balance)

Caloric Balance means no weight change (and no fat loss).

Example 2: Fat Loss with Caloric Deficit

Now, imagine if you kept careful watch of your diet and kept your caloric intake at 1,800 a day.

2,300 (Total Calories Burned) – 1,800 (Caloric Intake) = 500 (Caloric Deficit)

With a caloric deficit by walking 10,000 steps and eating less, that individual can now burn fat.

If you kept that up for 7 days, theoretically, you could expect a weight loss of a pound of fat in a week, but there would be no way to know if you can expect results like this without getting an estimate of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

You can read up on how to learn what your BMR is and how to use it to get yourself into a caloric balance.

Every Journey Begins With A First Step – Make It Count!

There’s no question that there are enormous health benefits to increasing your activity level through moderate exercises like walking, even if they don’t lead to weight loss. A 2010 study has shown that walking more has many positive health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health, cholesterol level, fitness ability, and many other variables that contribute towards healthy living.

Researchers found that walking every day for 30 minutes can lower the risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

It’s safe to say that almost everyone reading this article would likely benefit from increasing physical activity and adopting a healthy habit like a daily brisk walk. It is a great way to reach the recommended 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise per week.

But if weight loss is your mission, you must understand how weight loss occurs so you can set goals to help you achieve it, and that includes putting goals like walking 10,000 steps a day into context.

Weight loss occurs when you’re in a caloric deficit. If your calories in/out are in balance, you can’t expect much change. You’ve got to get out of balance for change to happen, and the easiest way to do that is by increasing physical activity and decreasing your caloric intake.

Setting and achieving a daily goal like 10,000 steps can be a great way to increase your activity level, create a healthy lifestyle, and improve your overall health. You can add walking as a warm-up before a strength training workout, or it can be a workout by itself.

But before you set any fitness goal like walking 10,000 steps, take a minute to understand what you’re embarking on.

Remember the old Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Make sure each step, from the first to the 10,000th to the 100,000th, has a purpose”.

As we age, our body composition begins to shift, physical activity tends to decrease, and this leads to a change in our body composition. Coupled with a change in diet (or a change in our nutrition status as a result of a medical condition), muscle mass begins to decline, and we become susceptible to accidental injuries, chronic joint pain and decreased tolerance to surgery.

A recent study discovered that the prevalence of sarcopenia among Malaysians aged 60 to 70 years and 80 years and older ranged from 5% to 13% and 11% to 50%, respectively. Once you hit 80 years old, that number increases to 11-50%.

Why do we care? Because loss of muscle leads to decreased functional capacity in adults and is associated with numerous amounts of health risks and a decrease in quality of life decreases.

Let’s take a closer look at why being aware of the risk of sarcopenia is so important, and how you can combat it.

What does Sarcopenia even mean?

Sarcopenia refers to a clinically significant loss of muscle mass and strength resulting from “normal aging”. It is not solely the result of disease, but rather, is part of the natural aging process. This is not to be confused with cachexia, which describes the uncontrolled loss of muscle mass and/or body fat mass. While cachexia is most often thought of as a case of malnutrition due to health conditions such as cancer, sarcopenia focuses on changes in nutrition and physical activity that causes a progressive loss of muscle mass. This is important because sarcopenic individuals can maintain their fat mass, which can also lead to a “skinny fat” body composition. The condition of sarcopenic obesity has greater health consequences, as we will describe later.

Historically, scientists and doctors believed that this muscle loss and its resulting consequences (balance issues, change in walking performance and a decreased ability to perform activities of daily living) were inevitable, but experts agree if we stay on top of our activity and body composition, we might just be able to fight this slow loss of muscle mass and strength.

It’s no secret that as we age, not only do we tend to gain more fat, but we also begin to lose muscle mass.

Studies have shown that older adults between the ages of 60-69 years old have 14 and 13 pounds less lean body mass respectively than men and women 20-29 years old, despite being more than 8 to 12 pounds heavier.

So what’s going on?

What causes sarcopenia?

To reiterate, sarcopenia is thought to be part of the normal aging process but the process is more complex than that.

Causes seem to be multifactorial and include age, inadequate nutrition (such as decreased protein intake), hormonal changes, increases in pro-inflammatory proteins (proteins that our body makes, not the ones that we eat), decreased physical activity, vascular (circulatory) diseases, etc.

Let’s break this down further.

While we do know that sarcopenia is often related to aging, we also know that there are many other factors that contribute to the progressive muscle loss that characterizes sarcopenia. Some of these factors are not directly related to our diet but may exacerbate the muscle loss or cause it to progress more quickly.

Age

One study found that the prevalence of sarcopenia increased from 4% of men and 3% of women aged 70-75 years old to 16% of men and 13% of women age 85 and older. This may be related to the changes in activity, so we are still learning if we are able to prevent this “aging-related” muscle loss.

Hormonal changes

Hormones are chemicals produced by the endocrine system that help control major bodily function. As we age, hormone production changes which play a huge part in the aging process, as they are involved in the development of muscle mass and strength.

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone but affects the health of both men women. The production of this hormone plays a central role in the risk of sarcopenia. Testosterone helps to increase muscle gain and also activates satellite cells, which support increased function. When testosterone begins to decline with age, we not only get a decrease in protein synthesis but also decreasing ability to produce  satellite precursor cells which are essential for muscle repair.

Diminished intake of protein and creatine

Many seniors are at risk of malnutrition because a variety of external factors that affect their ability maintain good nutrition. Malnutrition is defined as a state of lack of uptake or intake of nutrition which can affect body composition negatively. These complications affect not only our diet/exercise but how our body responds to our diet and exercise.

An important nutrient that elderly people may not be getting enough of is protein. Trouble chewing, high food costs, are trouble cooking are all factors that limit elderly people access to protein. Inadequate protein intake can progress sarcopenia.

That because protein requirements for the elderly population may even be higher than a younger population. This is due to age-related changes in the metabolism of protein, including a decreased response to protein intake. This means that an older population needs to consume more protein to get the same anabolic effect.

Decreased physical activity

Physical inactivity is one of the primary factors in the progression of sarcopenia. Regular resistance exercise can help to maintain muscle mass and also build muscular strength. Elderly people tend to be more sedentary than younger populations which can exacerbate the effects of sarcopenia.

Decrease in motor neurons

Aging is accompanied by a loss of motor neurons due to cell death, which leads to a parallel decrease in muscle fiber number and size. This decrease in muscle fibers leads to impaired performance, a reduction in the functional capacity and a decreased ability to perform everyday tasks.

Increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines

Poor diet and exercise are also known to promote the storage of visceral fat. This type of fat tissue produces proinflammatory cytokines which can accelerate muscle breakdown and thus, worsen risk. Obesity and muscle weakness are both associated with high levels of these pro-inflammatory cytokines. Central obesity, made worse by decreased muscle mass seems to play a role in the progression of sarcopenia.

Disease-related malnutrition

Disease-related malnutrition is different than the previously related malnutrition because this type of malnutrition is directly triggered by sickness or illness.

When an individual suffers from a health-related disease or is provided long-term hospital care increases their risk of malnutrition. A few of the conditions are provided here as an example.

Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases such as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) tend to have onset during middle age, but the elderly population is most negatively affected. Elderly patients with these conditions undergo significantly greater wasting than those who are younger.

A decline in insulin-like growth factor or the development of insulin resistance also seems to accelerate the development of sarcopenia. Thus, both common health conditions such as diabetes and more severe conditions such as heart failure all contribute to larger losses in muscle.

What does this all mean?

While some of these changes that occur within the body are expected with older age, the importance of proper diet and physical activity cannot be underscored enough; the better you treat your body, the more likely you are to prevent progressive muscle loss. Additionally, a healthy diet can prevent the storage of harmful fat mass, which may increase health risks.

Sarcopenic Obesity

You may not have heard the term sarcopenic obese, but you’ve likely heard the term “skinny fat ”. A person who is “skinny fat” may be a normal weight but has a metabolic composition similar to someone who is overweight or obese.

A person who is “skinny fat” has lost muscle mass and gained or maintained fat mass. This can be the result of an improper diet coupled with physical inactivity.

Because sarcopenia is most commonly the result of improper diet/exercise, a person of any age can be sarcopenic obese, especially if they neglect their nutrition and exercise. This is why it’s so important to focus on body composition and not just weight.

How do you know if you’re sarcopenic? You’ll want to determine your body composition using a medical body composition analyzer and keep an eye on how it changes over time. If you find that your lean body mass is decreasing while your fat mass is increasing, you may be experiencing increasing your risk for sarcopenia or sarcopenic obesity.

How can you fight Sarcopenia?

While there is currently no cure for sarcopenia, there are multiple things you can do to ensure to preserve muscle. Similar to wearing sunscreen, it’s important to take these preventative measures. If you are already experiencing muscle breakdown, these factors might help delay its progression.

1) Strength training

While we know it is important to exercise for your physical health, it is important to begin strength training( such as resistance training, bodyweight exercises, etc) at a young age to keep muscle mass high and decrease the likelihood that muscle will begin to break down prematurely

Resistance training has been shown to be effective at preventing or delaying sarcopenia, even in a very elderly population. Research has shown that resistance training elicits muscle hypertrophy as well as changes in neuromuscular function. These changes in muscle mass and nervous system function lead to an improved ability to perform those functional activities that may become more difficult with older age. If you are worried that your body is too old to cope with resistance training, remember that there is no age limit. If you are worried about injury, train under the supervision of a accredited fitness professional and stay within your ability level.

2) Increase protein intake

Protein is essential for building and repairing muscle tissue. The current Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for protein is set at 10-35% of your daily energy needs. For those who already have signs of impaired muscle size or function, adequate protein intake is even more important to allow for optimal protein synthesis in the body.

The good news is that protein supplementation alone may slow muscle mass decline, but when coupled with the proper amino acid balance and creatine, it can also enhance muscle strength.

3) Increased amino acid intake

Studies suggest that amino acid supplementation may improve outcomes for people with sarcopenia.. A popular supplement is essential amino acids, which are amino acids that the body cannot make on its own and can only be obtained from dietary sources. Leucine, an essential branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) has been shown to preserve lean body mass. Leucine seems to stimulate muscle protein synthesis in a similar way in both young and elderly populations.

4) Monitor your hormone levels

As mentioned earlier, hormones can play a significant role in the progression of sarcopenia. Stay on top of your hormones by having your doctor check your levels during your annual visit.

As it currently stands, Hormone Replacement Therapy is not yet recommended for the treatment of sarcopenia but may become a feasible treatment option in the future.

5) Watch your vitamin D levels

Vitamin D deficiency has been shown to be correlated with muscle loss in women regardless of body composition, diet and hormonal status. The research suggests that avoiding Vitamin D deficiency is not just important for bone health, but also in the avoidance of aging-related muscle loss.

Wrapping It Up

Before you begin incorporating protein shakes and resistance workouts into your regular routine to avoid developing sarcopenia, you must first develop a plan. The first step toward achieving a healthy level of lean body mass is to do a body composition analysis to determine how much you have. Click here to read more about the various types of BIA devices that analyse body composition.