You dont necessarily need to get 10,000 steps each day to see health benefits, according to research published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology .

The meta-analysis, which analyzed data from 17 studies and 226,889 people, underscores the importance of walking any amount even if it seems small.

The authors found that walking 3,967 steps or more each day reduced the risk of death from any cause. Walking 2,337 or more steps each day lowered the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, which includes both heart disease and stroke. Researchers also discovered that walking 1,000 more steps each day saw a 15% lower risk of all-cause mortality and that increasing walks by 500 steps each day brought a 7% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

All of this is a welcome piece of news as most people struggle to hit that 10,000-step goal.

The problem has been that the recommended 10,000 steps per day and the definition of physical inactivity of less than 5,000 steps per day has been really difficult for most patients to achieve ... it almost leads to a sense of fatalism that many members of the public feel that they cant reach these recommendations, said Dr. Keith Ferdinand , the chair of preventative cardiology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans.

The research does not mean that the 10,000 steps per day recommendation is wrong, it just gives the public some confidence that moderate activity is better than none, said Ferdinand, who was not affiliated with the study.

In fact, the more you walk, the better your well-being. The research found that people who walked more steps had the lowest risk of premature mortality. Specifically, those who walked 20,000 steps or more each day.

If you cant achieve 10,000 steps per day, dont despair. Some activity is better than none. But then, on the other hand, if you can safely achieve those 10,000 steps per day, you may even have greater benefit in terms of mortality, Ferdinand added.