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The gospel according to fitness influencers: drink three liters of water per day, get a minimum of eight hours of sleep, and walk at least 10,000 steps per day. From the hot girl walk, to wearing weighted vests and arm weights on said walk, to those taking it oneor 5,000steps further and marching up to 15,000 or even 25,000 steps a day, these once-simple strolls have morphed into full-blown social media trends. When did something as basic as going for a walk become so intimidating? @alexrose_ My top podcast recommendations for the wellness or health / beauty / pop culture girlies who want to increase their step goals and not get bored out of their minds #walkingforfatloss #podcastreccomendations #podcastsforyour20s #10ksteps original sound – Lex While mostly sage advice, if youve been struggling to hit the gold standard of 10,000 steps a day (which roughly equates to five miles) or found yourself doing laps around the block to get those final few hundred under your belt, just know that unofficial target isnt actually based in science. The 10,000 steps-a-day walking target originated as a 1960s marketing slogan by Japanese company Yamasa to sell pedometers. It has since become accepted wisdom, promoted heavily by the online fitness community. That is until new scientific analysis in The Lancet Public Health officially confirmed that this aspirational goal, while by no means harmful, isnt the magic number its promoted to be, and even thousands fewer steps a day could still yield big health rewards. The researchers analyzed data from more than 160,000 adults to examine how step counts were linked with the risk of developing a number of health conditions. They discovered the overall mortality for people walking 7,000 steps was 47% lower than for those who walked only 2,000. Walking this amount daily also reduced the risk of health problems including death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as incidence of type 2 diabetes and dementia. But after 7,000 steps, as the step count increased, the payoff rate slowed. The overall mortality for people notching 10,000 steps was 48%just a 1% increase from 7,000compared with 2,000. Now, thats not to say you should give up on your 10,000-step goal, or worse, cut back on the steps you are already doing. Hitting 10,000 steps was found to be better than 7,000 for some health conditions, such as reducing the risk of depression. Also, those clocking in 12,000 steps a day saw their overall mortality drop 55% compared with 2,000. But pushing for a minimum of 5,000 to 7,000a more practical target for those who are currently inactivewill make the biggest difference for the least amount of effort. While 10,000 may still be the gold standard, just know that you are still reaping the health benefits if you only make it to 9,999.
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E-Commerce
Europe’s economy barely grew in the April-June quarter as frantic earlier efforts to ship goods ahead of new U.S. tariffs went into reverse and output fell for the continent’s biggest economy, Germany. Gross domestic product grew an anemic 0.1% compared to the previous quarter in the 20 countries that use the euro currency, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Wednesday. Growth was 1.4% over the same quarter a year ago. And prospects are mediocre for the coming months, given the 15% tariff, or import tax, imposed on European goods in the U.S. under the EU-U.S. trade deal announced Sunday. The higher tariff will burden European exports with higher costs to either be passed on to U.S. consumers or swallowed in the form of lower profits. The economy sagged after stronger than expected 0.6% growth in the first quarter, a figure inflated by companies trying to move product ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s additional tariff onslaught that was announced April 2, two days after the first quarter ended. Output fell 0.1% in Germany and Italy, while growth of 0.3% in France was boosted by a rise in auto and aircraft inventories while domestic demand was otherwise stagnant. That left Spain as the only strong performer among the four largest eurozone economies at 0.7% With the 15% U.S. universal tariff likely to subtract around 0.2% from the regions GDP, growth is likely to remain weak in the rest of this year, said Franziska Palmas, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics. Germany’s economy remains roughly the same size as it was before the pandemic six years ago, as its export-dominated business sector struggles with multiple issues including stronger competition from China, a lack of skilled workers, higher energy prices, lagging infrastructure investment, and burdensome regulation and bureaucracy. Economist Palmas said that Germany “is likely to be hit harder than other major economies by tariffs and continue to struggle this year” before increased government spending from the new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, aimed at making up the infrastructure gap, starts to boost the economy in 2026. On Wednesday, Germanys Cabinet approved a draft 2026 budget that foresees a second consecutive year of record government investment in priorities such as modernizing transport infrastructure, building homes, security and digitization. Spending is set to rise to 126.7 billion euros ($146.2 billion) next year from 115.7 billion euros in 2025. Our top priority is to secure jobs and ensure new economic strength, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said. David McHugh, AP business writer Geir Moulson contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
Chinas top leaders have pledged to help companies slammed by higher U.S. tariffs but held back on major moves after trade talks with the U.S. this week kept businesses and planners in limbo. At their summer economic planning meeting, the powerful Politburo of the ruling Communist Party pledged to stabilize foreign trade and investment. We must assist foreign trade enterprises that have been severely impacted, strengthen financing support, and promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, the official Xinhua News Agency said in reporting the closed door meeting. It mentioned export tax rebates and free trade pilot zones but gave no other specifics. The inconclusive outcome of two days of trade talks in Stockholm, Sweden, leaves open the question of higher tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said the two sides had agreed to work on extending a deadline for higher tariffs. The U.S. side said the extension was discussed, but not decided. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters after the talks that President Donald Trump would decide whether to extend the Aug. 12 deadline for reaching an agreement or to let tariffs that have been paused for 90 days to boomerang back to a higher level. We haven’t given the sign-off, Bessent said, though he emphasized that the talks had been very constructive. China remains one of the biggest challenges for the Trump administration after it has struck deals over elevated tariff rates with other key trading partners including Britain, Japan and the European Union. Many analysts had expected that the Stockholm talks would result in an extension of current tariff levels, which currently stand at a U.S. tariff of 30% on Chinese goods and a Chinese tariff of 10% on U.S. products, far lower than the triple-digit percentage rates raised in April. The truce in the tariffs war to allow time for talks, agreed on in early May to allow time for negotiations, allowed exporters and other traders to ramp up shipments in hopes of beating any higher tariffs that might follow. The meeting headed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping mostly reiterated Beijing’s priorities for the year, including a need to unleash domestic demand which has lagged, leading to a surge of exports by industries unable to find growth at home. It also stressed the need to promote jobs and prevent a large scale relapse into poverty. The economy has demonstrated strong vitality and resilience, the Xinhua report said. But it acknowledged many risks and challenges. That includes reining in brutal competition that has led to damaging price wars among automakers and some other manufacturers and managing excess capacity in some industries, it said. China’s economy expanded at a 5.2% annual pace in April-June, slowing slightly from the previous quarter. But analysts have said actual growth may have been significantly slower. Even with the hiatus in higher tariffs, companies are feeling a pinch. Industrial profits in China fell 1.8% in the first half of the year and 4.3% in June, according to data released earlier this week. It’s unclear what level of tariffs might eventually be imposed on Chinese exports to the United States. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Thursday that Beijing hopes the U.S. side would follow through on the important consensus reached between Trump and Xi in a phone call to promote stable relations between the world’s two largest economies. But Guo reiterated China’s stance on its U.S. objections to its purchases of oil and gas from Russia, which Bessent raised during the talks in Stockholm, threatening more tariffs. China will take reasonable measures to ensure energy security in accordance with its national interests, Guo said. There are no winners in a tariff war. Coercion and pressure will not solve the problem. China will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests. Elaine Kurtenbach, AP business writer
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