How many steps do you really need? That’s the wrong question.

We love counting steps. Maybe it’s because we love goals, or because we’re constantly reminded of how far we’ve gone and still have to go to achieve a daily goal. Or it could be that too study after study says that walking is one of the most viable ways to extend lifespan.

That’s why we ask ourselves: how many steps are enough? Are more steps better? An article recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that just 2,200 steps can help fight diseases made worse by a sedentary lifestyle such as heart disease and diabetes, although it was more effective to walk up to 9,000 steps.

But focusing purely on the number of steps misses the whole picture. Researchers now say that after a certain point what steps you take is just as important as the amount.

So whether you’re hitting the bare minimum goal of 2,200 steps or consistently logging 10,000, here are a few tactics to get more out of your daily walk.

Start walking.

The first step for anyone who no longer wants to walk is to just start, says Amanda Paluch, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Walk around the block or make laps around your house. See if you can walk 2,000 steps, about a mile, and go from there.

If you’re older or have a chronic condition that makes it harder to get up and move, walking at any speed is helpful for your health, she said.

Walk faster.

It’s often helpful to count your steps at first, but once you consistently reach about 6,000 or 8,000 steps per day, you can focus more on pacing.

Walking causes your muscles to contract, which pushes blood from your legs to your heart, making your heart stronger and more efficient over time. But the benefits diminish once your heart gets a certain “stimulus,” says Keith Baar, professor of molecular exercise physiology at the University of California, Davis, by which he means the same number of steps at the same pace every day.

“To have more effect,” he said, “you need a bigger incentive.”

Push yourself by walking faster and breathing harder, he said. Building intensity when walking isn’t about burning more calories, it’s about strengthening your cardiovascular system. a 2022 article in the journal Nature showed that walking faster led to less sleep apnea, acid reflux, diabetes and hypertension.

Start by walking 30 seconds or one minute faster. Increase the frequency and length of those bursts if you can.

Try walking outside.

Whether walking outside in itself improves your physical health is still up for debate. according to a 2023 meta-analysis. Dr. However, Baar argues that we use more energy when walking on soft surfaces such as sand, gravel or dirt because our tendons help us walk more efficiently on hard surfaces.

Regardless of whether it’s more difficult, he encourages people to walk on trails, as spending time in nature has proven mental health benefitsand because trails tend to have more hills than nearby streets.

Walk uphill.

After you’ve accelerated, consider heading upstairs. Finding hills to walk up is a good way to improve your fitness in a world where time is limited, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine and a volunteer for the American Heart Association.

Most studies, including the recent British one, show diminishing returns on steps over a distance of about five miles. So instead of walking 12,000 or 15,000 steps to improve your workout, walk uphill to keep your heart rate up. You can also walk backwards uphill to make it even harder and target different muscles. The goal is to incorporate vigorous activity into your walking rather than staying at a moderate pace.

Dr. Paluch suggests the singing test: go so fast that you can say short sentences, but can’t sing a song.

“If you’re comfortable talking while you’re doing the activities,” said Dr. Khan, “it’s probably a bit too relaxing to count as a vigorous activity.”

Carrying weight.

Consider adding weight to your backpack to increase the intensity of your hike even more. Rucking, as it’s called, aids in strength training while increasing your heart rate, said Dr. Khan.

But Dr. Paluch warned anyone interested in rucking to ease into it. Weight can cause you to change the way you walk or carry yourself, potentially leading to injury.

Try jogging.

People ask Dr. Kahn often asks whether it is better to walk or run on a course. Although the distance is technically the same, she said your long-term health will benefit more from running.

Just like when you started running faster, start running for 30 seconds or even a minute and then slowly increase those intervals. And whether or not you decide to run, said Dr. Khan: The best daily steps are the ones you take while working just a little harder.