More than 10,000 steps, and I felt accomplished. Do we need to walk 10,000 steps? The idea that you have to walk 10,000 steps a day to be healthy comes from a 1965 Japanese marketing campaign made for the first consumer pedometer. The device was called Manpo-kei, which translates to "10,000 steps meter." "The effect of 10,000 steps on you might be different from me," he said.