When you're short on time but committed to your health, this is a shorter stroll than what's been classically recommended.
In the past year, a 101-year-old nutrition professor, Dr. John Scharffenberg, MD, MPH, has been one of several 100-plus-year-old figures sharing their own long-practiced rules for a lengthy, fulfilled life. Dr. Scharffenberg—who is still listed on the faculty page as a professor at Loma Linda University’s school of public health in California—has been quoted saying that among all the guidelines he’s followed, daily exercise has been a non-negotiable that’s helped him outlive the lifespans of his parents and two siblings. “Even though I’m a nutritionist, I think exercise is even more important than nutrition,” this longtime medical doctor has said.
Dr. Scharffenberg’s added that for decades, his two favorite modes of physical activity have been gardening (a trend that an overwhelming number of centenarians like him follow) and walking—in large part for their effects on heart health.
Now, an expert at the Cleveland Clinic is providing some commentary on the traditional opinion that you need 10,000 steps in every day to reap significant health benefit. August 2025 research in Europe and Australia analyzed 57 past studies on walking to determine that “7,000 steps per day is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in health outcomes.”
But Tamanna Singh, MD, is a sports cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic who suggests even fewer steps are still worthwhile. “We’ve seen benefits from cardiovascular risk reduction for steps as low as 3,500 to 5,000,” Dr. Singh says. “And certainly, as you get incremental increases in steps, every 1,000-step increment actually correlates to about a 15% reduction in cardiovascular risk.”
The takeaway? Says Dr. Singh: “It all comes down to what I think most of us already know: The more movement, the better for your heart.”
The Clinic lists just a handful of wins from walking, such as improved blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol, as well as stronger muscles and bones.
If you’re wondering about the math, rough universal estimates suggest there are around 2,000 steps within one mile—though, of course, this varies by the range of stride and other variables from person to person.
Also, think about Dr. Singh’s insight another way: Even if time restricts you from reaching those 3,500 steps, any amount of walking you can squeeze in is likely to improve your health some. One way our team stays moving is thanks to a wet-nosed nudge.
For daily wellness updates, subscribe to The Healthy by Reader’s Digest newsletter and follow The Healthy on Facebook and Instagram. Keep reading:
