Your phone counts the steps and tells you nothing about what they mean. Weight matters more than most people think - the same walk is worth twice as much to a heavier body.
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Enter your steps and weight to see what they are worth.
Not from research. A Japanese company selling pedometers in the 1960s named its product manpo-kei - which translates as "10,000 step meter" - and the number stuck because it was a memorable round figure in a marketing name.
That does not make it a bad target. Studies since have found real benefit rising with step count, with much of the gain showing up well before 10,000 - somewhere around 7,000 to 8,000 for many people. If you are on 3,000 now, getting to 6,000 matters far more than whether the ceiling is 8,000 or 10,000.
Walking cost is driven by how much you weigh and how far you go. This uses your weight, your stride length worked out from your height, and a rate that rises with pace. A brisk walk costs noticeably more per kilometre than a stroll, because you are also carrying yourself higher and faster.
It is an estimate. Hills, stairs, carrying a bag and how fit you are all move it. Treat the number as roughly right rather than exact.
It helps, and it helps more than most people give it credit for - walking adds to your daily burn without making you especially hungry and without costing recovery, which is what separates it from hard cardio. But the deficit is still mostly a kitchen job. Ten thousand steps is roughly 300 to 500 calories for most people, and that is one paratha.
The calorie deficit guide covers where the loss actually comes from, and the calorie calculator gives you the number to aim at.
Probably not exactly, and neither is wrong. Phones and watches use their own formulas, some counting your resting burn in the total and some not. The trend over weeks is what matters, so pick one and stay with it rather than switching between them.
Step calorie figures are estimates - hills, load and fitness all move them. Everything on this page is worked out from a formula or from published averages. It has never met you, and it cannot see your blood pressure, your medication or an old injury.
Talk to a doctor before you start if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a heart condition, diabetes or high blood pressure, take regular medication, have or have had an eating disorder, are recovering from injury or surgery, or are under 18. Stop and get advice if any exercise causes pain, dizziness or chest discomfort.
More about where these numbers come from is on the about page.
