Brian is a New York–based science and health journalist. His work has been published by The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The New York Times For Kids, CBS News, The TODAY Show, Barron's PENTA, Engadget, and Healthline, among others.Nick Blackmer is a librarian, fact-checker, and researcher with more than 20 years of experience in consumer-facing health and wellness content.
Many people use fitness watches to track their workouts and overall fitness—but is it better to measure your movement in steps or overall minutes of exercise? New research may have the answer.on May 20, examined which of these two fitness goals is best for maintaining overall health.
“We recognized a gap in the existing guidelines that focus primarily on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity but lack a clear step-based recommendation,” Hamaya told Health. “Our study aimed to explore whether step counts could be as effective as MVPA time in predicting health outcomes.”To compare these two methods of fitness tracking, Hamaya and his team used data from 14,399 people enrolled in the U.S. Women’s Health Study, which was a randomized clinical trial that ran from 1992 to 2004.
The study also implies that it may be helpful for health agencies to include step counts as an “alternate metric” in physical activity guidelines, Hamaya added, especially for older adults. “The limited diversity in the sample means we should be cautious about applying the findings universally,” Woolridge said. “It’s a good reminder that personalizing exercise plans is crucial, considering individual backgrounds and long-term health goals.”