Among their findings: Taking 7,000 steps per day was associated with nearly a 50% lower risk of dying compared to the bare minimum of 2,000 steps. The work from Ding’s team reflects a growing consensus in the scientific literature that around 7,000 steps could be a reasonable target for the public. “Just like we need a balanced, healthy diet, it’s important for us to have balanced physical activity, training throughout the week as well,” she says. If you are counting steps, Kraus emphasizes that the evidence pointing to roughly 7,000 steps a day should not discount the value of doing more steps, even if the upsides that have been studied so far become incremental above that number. DING: The 7,000 steps tend to be the range where there seems to be diminishing return on investment for increasing more steps.