How Many Steps Per Day Do You Need If You Want To Lose Weight? Here's An Expert Answer

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JAKARTA - In today's era of technological advancements, you can easily track how many steps you have taken in a day using only your smartphone or smartwatch. This will have a good impact on health and can be useful for those of you who want to lose weight.

The reason is, walking every day can reduce the risk of health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stiff joints. Walking consistently can also help you lose weight.

Quoted ANTARA from Popsugar on Sunday, June 12, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity physical activity or 75 minutes a week of high-intensity activity.

In other words, ideally, you should be active for 30 minutes per day for five days a week. For additional health benefits, the CDC recommends adjusting for up to 300 minutes a week of moderate intensity or 150 minutes a week of high intensity.

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Then, how many steps should you take in a day to lose weight? Laura Arndt, an NSCA-certified personal trainer and CEO of Matriac, a health and wellness app for moms, says that a brisk 30-minute walk means between 3,000 and 5,000 steps, depending on their pace and gait.

Arndt himself recommends that his clients aim for 10,000 steps a day. On average, a person can burn 100 calories by walking a mile. Walking 10,000 steps is the same as walking five miles. That is, a person can burn about 500 calories from completing a full 10,000 steps a day. However, Arndt insists that 10,000 steps a day is not a realistic goal for everyone to achieve.

"The best thing to do is have someone wear a fitness tracker for a week, look at their average step count for the week, and ask them to increase their step count by 10 percent," Arndt says.

If you're particularly looking to lose weight, bariatric surgeon at the Khalili Center Gregg Kai Nishi, MD, FACS, says the intensity of physical activity also plays an important role.

"Walking 10,000 very slow steps may not be enough to actually result in weight loss. On the other hand, walking very fast, even if less than 10,000 steps, may be much more beneficial in terms of weight loss," he says.

Gregg also says that in addition to looking at the number of steps in a day, you can also do muscle training. According to him, muscle training is useful for increasing metabolism, burning calories, and helping to lose weight.