Forget 10,000 steps — researchers say this is way more important

Woman walking briskly outside.

The great thing about walking is you don’t need any equipment, you can do it anywhere and it's totally free. That makes it an ideal method for adding movement into your day. But if you’re walking to boost your fitness, researchers have found your pace is more important than step count.

Although the best fitness trackers will encourage you to hit 10,000 steps each day, this number isn’t based on any studies. Instead, seems to have originated from a 1960s marketing campaign for a Japanese pedometer known as the Manpo-Kei, which translates to “10,000 steps meter.”