Plan steps to move from sedentary to active.
Step counts below roughly five thousand a day are conventionally called sedentary, and the safe way to leave that band is proportional rather than absolute growth: raising the current count by around ten percent a week lets tendons and joints adapt. Because each week builds on the last, the number of weeks needed is a logarithm of the ratio between target and current count, not a simple division.
Weeks to target
Weeks = ln(target steps / current steps) / ln(1 + weekly increase)
Walking time equivalent
Extra minutes per day = step gap / 110 steps per minute
Educational estimate only. Not medical advice — discuss results with a qualified clinician before changing treatment, medication or exercise.
It began as a 1960s pedometer marketing slogan. Mortality benefit in cohort studies rises steeply from about four thousand and flattens between seven and nine thousand for most adults, so a lower target is still worthwhile.
Bone, tendon and plantar tissue adapt far more slowly than cardiovascular fitness. Sudden large increases in walking volume are a common cause of plantar fasciitis and shin pain.