By now you know that walking is good for your health. Maybe you’ve even invested in an activity tracker to keep tally of your daily steps. But just how many steps should you be shooting for each day? The answer: it depends on which study was most recently published! Most activity trackers default to 10,000 steps a day, but is that the right number for you? We scoured the internet and found several articles that highlight different step goals and the benefits that reaching that daily target may create in your life.

But first, the best news. The biggest benefit seems to come at the beginning! From getting off of the couch and those first steps. Yay! So even if you are a walking beginner, recovering from an injury, or getting back into walking after some time off, you’ll start to see benefits right away even if you set your target lower than 10,000 steps a day.

We recommend that you set your goal at a minimum of 4,000 steps each day. Other possible numbers to choose (with the science to back them up):

• For happy knees – 6,000 steps
• Longer life for women over 60 – 7,500 steps
• Significantly reduce all-cause mortality – 8,000 steps
• The industry standard – 10,000 steps
• Reduce risk of death by almost 16x – 12,000 steps

A few other considerations when setting your goal. First, all steps count! You can clock extra steps by parking further away at the grocery store or walking around the block after dinner. Second, the best goal is one that is a bit out of reach but not so far gone that you’ll feel defeated and give up after a few days.

Are you ready to get steppin’?! We’re here to support you with our Step It Up Pilates Challenge! There’s Pilates, there’s stepping, or you can skip the Pilates and just do the step challenge (but since we’re Pilates experts, we really think you’ll love both).

Click the button below to learn more and join us!