Just 4,400 steps a day can improve women's longevity

Woman walking.
(Image credit: iStock/VTT Studio)

Working out may be healthy, but it's also intimidating to plenty of people. Luckily, new research indicates that just walking can be great for your health — no weights, yoga, or marathons required.

A new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday, found that for older women, getting just 4,400 steps a day can significantly improve their chances of living longer. That might seem like a lot, but it's far less than the conventional wisdom of 10,000 steps a day, NPR reported. And the average American takes between 3,000 and 4,000 steps a day already.

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Shivani is the editorial assistant at TheWeek.com and has previously written for StreetEasy and Mic.com. A graduate of the physics and journalism departments at NYU, Shivani currently lives in Brooklyn and spends free time cooking, watching TV, and taking too many selfies.