In a video published on her Instagram account, Doctor Victoria Tchaikovsky reminds us that 10,000 steps are not necessarily the goal to achieve for everyone. The short answer:
10,000 steps is not a magic threshold. To feel better, making regular progress is often more important than checking a number.
10,000 steps: a known benchmark, not an obligation
The video emphasizes a useful idea: walking is a real physical activity. It should not be devalued just because it seems simple or everyday. The sports doctor reminds in particular that walking 5,000 steps per day is not “useless” if you do not reach 10,000.
This nuance is important, because the goal of 10,000 steps has established itself as an easy symbol to remember. But recent data does not present it as a border between “it works” and “it is useless”. A meta-analysis published in The Lancet Public Health in 2025 indicates thataround 7,000 steps per day is already associated with clinically relevant benefits compared to a very low level of activity. This does not make 10,000 steps useless: for an already active person, they can remain a motivating goal.
The right question is therefore not only: do you really need to walk 10,000 steps a day? It is also: where do we start from, and can we increase our activity without getting discouraged?
“If you go from 2,000 to 5,000, it’s already extraordinary.”
This sentence from the expert sums up the message well. The available studies describe associations between the number of steps and certain health indicators: they do not prove that a precise threshold automatically produces an effect in everyone. But they support the idea that progress, even modest, can count.
What really matters: regularity, progression and appropriate intensity
Dr Tchaikovsky also emphasizes intensity: it places greater demands on the cardiovascular system and can allow you to work effectively in a shorter time. But this idea must be handled with caution. More intense does not mean better for everyonenor right away.
The international recommendations from the World Health Organization are mainly based on duration, regularity and intensity: in adults, they aim for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity per week, or 75 to 150 minutes of sustained intensity, with muscle strengthening at least two days per week. In short, Walking counts as physical activityespecially if it is regular and adapted to its abilities.
The idea of progressing “as we go” and of breaking it up is relevant: we can alternate between slightly more intense moments and calmer moments, without trying to transform each outing into a performance. For many people, walking a little more often, getting off a stop earlier or adding a short exit is already a realistic strategy.
- If you are not very active, go from 2,000 to 5,000 steps may be a more attainable goal than immediately aiming for 10,000;
- If you already walk a lot, 10,000 steps can serve as a personal benchmark, without becoming an injunction;
- If you want to increase the intensity, do it
graduallywhile maintaining a margin of comfort.
For the heart, the effects of walking are especially interesting when it becomes a habit. The benefits of walking on the heart are not based on a single number, but on the repetition of an appropriate effort.
When should you seek advice before increasing effort?
For a healthy person who is slowly getting back on track, increasing their step count is often a simple way to get moving more. On the other hand, if you have cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, kidney disease, cancer, a long-term condition, symptoms during exercise or a long period of inactivityit is better to be accompanied to adapt the activity.
It is not a question of giving up walking, but of securing the recovery and choosing the right level of effort. The 10,000 steps can therefore remain a known benchmark, but they must not hide the essential: move more than yesterday, regularly, without turning walking into daily pressure.