Movement Is Life: What Walking 10,000 Steps A Day Gave Me

by Matt Greco

I’ve just completed six years of walking at least 10,000 steps a day—over 10,000 miles—enough to have walked across the country three times. I’ve walked through rain, storms, super storms, snow storms, airports, different time zones, hospitals, different countries, at night, in the early morning, noon and evening. I’ve not missed a day (Don’t tell anyone but on Jan. 23, 2003, I walked 9,987 steps—I figured the other steps would be recorded in my apartment, but they weren’t—wearables don’t always record well in small spaces).

Aside from showcasing my obsessive-compulsive behavior—what have I achieved? Lower blood pressure, better cholesterol scores, better sleep and, sadly, a loss of only a few—not many—pounds.

I started in the fall of 2020—in the midst of the Covid pandemic—when I was in my early 60s. I’d already taken to long walks in Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, N.Y.) that year, which was almost always free of people and where I could witness the occasional baby headstone from 1918 that seemed to reflect the legacy of the Spanish Flu epidemic of that year.

But as a sign in many of PSS’s Older Adult Centers says, “Movement is Life.” It’s an inspiration for someone like me trying to have a healthy routine to counter other not great habits: sitting too much, snacking too much.

Would I do it again? That’s not the question I ask myself. Will I do it tomorrow is—or even more to the point: Will I do it today? And even further—will I finish it today—since I don’t usually walk the 10,000 steps in one outing.

Would I recommend it to others? Walking, sure. 10,000 steps? That’s up to you. Doctors and health experts say there’s nothing magic about 10,000 steps. 7,000 seems to be closer to the magic number. Two other factors that may be equally or more important: Walk faster and walk-up hills and stairs whenever possible.

Full confession: I walk pretty slowly. But I do walk, even when I don’t feel like it. Which isn’t all the time, but it’s more frequent than you might think for someone who walks so much. No matter what else, I’m told—and I believe it—walking is healthy, so my plan is to continue—whenever and however I can. Hope you do, too!