In recent years, the 10,000-steps-a-day regime has become entrenched in popular culture. You can barely walk down the street without someone stomping past someone wearing a FitBit. I used to wear a red colored strap FitBit during my daily morning runs. My second daughter wears a smartwatch which also keeps tract on the number of steps she walks in a day.  Now my smartphone keeps track of my daily steps. Though I do not carry my smartphone when I am around the house, I can roughly gauge that I easily chalk up over 10,00 steps a day on most days. My daily grocery shopping and errands-running chalk up over 3,000 steps. My daily morning regimen of brisk walking / running adds up another 6,000 – 7,000 steps and I am certain I walk way more than 1,000 steps while I am in the house doing chores.

Ten thousand steps was first popularized by Japanese pedometers under the name “manpo-kei,” which means “10,000 steps meter, in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  Today, taking 10,000 steps a day is a popular goal because some research has shown coupled with other healthy habits it can lead to a decrease in chronic illness like diabetes, metabolic syndromes and heart disease.

Some studies investigating the protective nature of exercise against chronic illnesses ranging from heart disease to stroke and various forms of cancer, such as breast cancer and reproductive cancers, suggest that somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 steps could be the lower boundary to aim for.

In  a recent study, postal workers in Glasgow, Scotland, who walked 15,000 steps a day were found to have had fewer risk factors for heart disease than colleagues who sat throughout the day.

While the study published in the The International Journal of Obesity, doesn’t identify 10,000 steps, 15,000 is pretty close.

At the end of the day, whether you’re walking 8,000 or 13,000 steps a day, it’s key to get moving.

Here are 10 of the most positive effects you can expect from taking the 10,000-step challenge:

1. It will boost your heart health
2. It will strengthen your lungs
3. It improves your concentration
4. It strengthens your bones
5. You’ll grow muscles
6. It helps stabilize your blood sugar
7. It can help lower blood pressure
8. It improves flexibility
9. It boosts your energy levels
10. It improves your mood

Here’s a look at how you can get started:

Get a pedometer / FitBit / Smartwatch / Smartphone with pedometer function – These devices not only monitor physical activity, but also keep people interested in physical activity.  Most people get started with a program and miss a week because of life and then they quit.  These monitors keep people motivated enough so they go back to a physical activity program and meet their goals.

While 10,000 steps may seem like a lofty goal, it’s easier than you think. If you are time-strapped to have proper walks / runs in sports attire, you can incorporate these activities into your daily life:

• Whether it’s at work or going to the grocery store, park your vehicle at the end of the parking lot so you get additional steps.
• Get up and move for 5-10 minutes every hour at work.  You can make time to move during work so that you are not sedentary for long periods of time. Get up and move to break up the sedentary time, and that may be just as important as 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day.

Build up your steps

For those who are nowhere near 10,000 steps a day, the goal should be to gradually increase the amount of steps you take each day.

If you are sedentary the whole goal of the physical activity guideline is to reduce sedentary time. If you are sitting there behind a desk it’s best for you to start low in the 3,000 – 4,000 range, which is actually higher than what most sedentary people get for physical activity.

In order to avoid injury, people who have been fairly sedentary should make sure they take it slow.