Dear Reader:

It seems that a lot of people are walking these days. Why not? It’s good for your health, right? Yes, walking is good. For those with bad knees, walking is easier on your joints than running.

But if you’re walking for fitness how much you walk makes a difference. So what is a good distance to accomplish on your daily trek?

According to Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke who has been studying pedometers and their usage says the answer varies. The variables have to do with the walker’s age, physical make up (body shape), and gender.

Here’s what Dr. Tudor-Locke’s research yielded:

Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:

1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"

2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active." The average American walks 5900 to 6900 steps per day, so the majority are "low active."

3) 7,500-9,999 steps/day likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."

4) 10,000 steps per day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".

5) Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps per day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

How to Choose the Best Pedometer
By Wendy Bumgardner

A pedometer senses your body motion and counts your footsteps. This count is converted into distance by knowing the length of your usual stride. Wearing a pedometer and recording your daily steps and distance is a great motivating tool. You can wear a pedometer all day, every day and record total steps. Or you can wear it just when you go out for a walking workout.

What Kind of Pedometer is Best?

All pedometers count steps, but use different methods to do so. Some mechanisms are more accurate than others. In general order of accuracy, these are: accelerometer, coiled spring mechanism, and hairspring mechanism. Free pedometers given away in health promotions are often the notoriously-inaccurate hairspring models. Start with a good pedometer to have the best results.

How Will You Wear Your Pedometer?

The old-style spring mechanisms required a pedometer to be worn in a perfect vertical position to count accurately. Depending on your body shape, a waistband pedometer might be tilted and not able to count steps accurately. But 2-axis and 3-axis accelerometer mechanisms can count steps accurately when tilted, carried in a pocket or on a lanyard.

Choose a pocket pedometer or wear-anywhere model to have a choice of where to wear it. Pedometer watches include those that only track dedicated walking workouts rather than all-day steps -- needing to be started and stopped. But newer designs are made for tracking total daily steps and are always running.

Wristband pedometers/activity monitors debuted in 2012 and swiftly gained popularity. These include the Nike+ FuelBand, Fitbit Flex and Jawbone UP.

If you wear your pedometer to count total daily steps, choose one that is small enough and comfortable enough for all-day wear. It needs to clip securely so it doesn't fall off. Add a pedometer safety leash for good measure. The display should be easy to read without removing the pedometer from your waistband. If the pedometer has a reset button, it should configured so you can't accidentally reset it.

More health information is available at Brain Brawn & Body and find out about other healthy events on Healthy Happenings. I invite you to read, learn, enjoy!

 

Eric Von

Publisher/Editor