SO MANY MEDICAL RULES ARE EQUALLY ILL-FOUNDED: The 10,000-step rule wasn’t based on science. “As it turns out, the 10,000-step benchmark wasn’t based on science. It originated in Japan in the 1960s, when a pedometer company called Yamasa created a product named ‘manpo-kei,’ which translates to ‘10,000-step meter.’ The catchy number stuck — and so did the idea that 10,000 was the gold standard.”