There's nothing magical about the number 10,000.
一万这个数字没甚么奇异的。
In fact, the idea of walking at least 10,000 steps a day for health goes back decades to a marketing campaign launched in Japan to promote a pedometer. And, in subsequent years, it was adopted in the US as a goal to promote good health. It's often the default setting on fitness trackers, but what's it really based on?
事实上，为了健康天天最少走一万步的设法可以追溯到几十年前日本一个计步器的营销勾当。在随后的几年里，它成为一种增进健康的方针在美国被采用。健身追踪器的默许设置也是一万步，但这背后真实的道理是甚么呢？
"The original basis of the number was not scientifically determined," says researcher I-Min Lee of Brigham and Women's Hospital.
布里格姆女子病院的研究员李依敏说：“这个数字的最初根据没有科学上的验证。”
She was curious to know how many steps you need to take a day to maintain good health and live a long life, so she and her colleagues designed a study that included about 17,000 older women. Their average age was 72. The women all agreed to clip on wearable devices to track their steps as they went about their day-to-day activities.
她很想知道人们天天需要走几多步才能连结健康和长命，所以她和同事们设计了一项有1.7万名老年女性介入的研究。她们均匀72岁，这些女性都赞成在平常勾当中佩带可穿着装备，跟踪本身的步数。
It turns out that women who took about 4,000 steps per day got a boost in longevity, compared with women who took fewer steps. "It was sort of surprising," Lee says.
成果表白，天天走年夜约4000步的女性比天天步数少于4000步的女性长命。“这有点使人惊奇，”李依敏说。
In fact, women who took 4,400 steps per day, on average, were about 40 percent less likely to die during the follow-up period of about four years compared with women who took 2,700 steps. The findings were published Wednesday in?JAMA Internal Medicine.
事实上，与天天走2700步的女性比拟，均匀天天走4400步的女性在年夜约四年的随访时代灭亡的可能性要低40%。该研究成果于上周三（5月29日）颁发在《美国医学会内科杂志》上。
Another surprise: The benefits of walking maxed out at about 7,500 steps. In other words, women who walked more than 7,500 steps per day saw no additional boost in longevity.
另外一个不测是：步行的益处在7500步摆布到达了极限。换句话说，天天步行跨越7500步的女性寿命并没有进一步增添。
"I love this study. I think it's really good news for women who may not be particularly active," says Kathleen Janz, who studies how physical activity influences health at the University of Iowa. She was not involved in this study.
“我喜好这个研究。我以为这对没有出格积极熬炼的女性来讲是个好动静，”爱荷华年夜学研究体育勾当若何影响健康的凯瑟琳·扬茨说。她没有介入这项研究。
Janz, who helped shape the new federal exercise recommendations released last November, says the message that comes from this study is that older women can benefit from just light walking.
扬茨协助了客岁11月新的联邦活动建议的发布。她说，这项研究告知我们，老年妇女可以从轻松适度的步行中获益。
"They didn't need to go to the gym or invest in a personal trainer or exercise equipment," she says. All they had to do was walk.
她说：“她们不需要往健身房，也不需要花钱请私教或采办健身器材。”她们只要逛逛路就好。
And Janz says that's encouraging.
扬茨说，这个发现使人鼓舞。
"To me, this study suggests there's more benefit to light activity than we were previously thinking there might be," she says.
她说：“对我来讲，这项研究表白，轻度勾当的益处比我们之前以为的要多。”
Of course, the researchers point out, they would like to know much more about how walking may affect other health parameters such as quality of life and memory and cognitive function. It's possible that walking a greater number of steps each day could influence these outcomes.
固然，研究职员指出，他们想知道更多关于步行若何影响其他健康参数的信息，如糊口质量、记忆力和认知功能。天天走更多步可能会影响这些成果。
Another thing Janz notes is that this study only measures walking. It didn't measure things that many of us do that don't require steps, things like gardening, swimming or biking. And it's safe to assume some women in the study were doing these other things that can influence health as well.
扬茨还注重到，这项研究只研究了步行。它没有丈量我们良多人做的不需要步行的工作，好比园艺、泅水或骑自行车。可以必定的是，这项研究中的一些女性也在做这些会影响健康的工作。
And Janz says to remember the federal exercise guidelines call for 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity, which includes all kinds of daily movement, not just steps.
扬茨说，要记住联邦活动指南要求每周进行150分钟的适度体育勾当，包罗各类平常活动，而不但仅是步行。
So, if 10,000 steps has been feeling out of reach to you, it may be time reset those factory settings on your fitness tracker. Instead, try to hit at least 4,400 a day, along with daily activities that you enjoy. And stick to it.
所以，若是你感觉1万步已远不成及，那末是时辰在你的健身追踪器上重置这些出厂设置了。你可以试着天天最少走4400步，再做些你喜好的平常勾当，并对峙下往。