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Make Walking Count:
The Pedometer
| MODELS
TESTED |
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| Digi-Walker Accusplit
Eagle 170: Comes with a comprehensive book about using the pedometer.
Visit www.creativewalking.com
Average cost: $27 |
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Sportline 352
FM Radio Pedometer:
The FM radio worked okay although it was a bit difficult to set on
a station but reception was fine once established. Average cost: $39.95.
Comes with earphones not shown. |
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| Sportline 349:
My favorite pedometer because it has big numbers and you donŐt have
to flip it open to see them. You have to hold a button down for a
few seconds to clear information, thus making it difficult to accidentally
erase data. Average cost: $24.99 |
By
Mike King, ACE Certified Personal Trainer
Our
gadget of the month is the pedometer, an inexpensive exercise tool that
can help keep you motivated with your walking goals by providing immediate
and measurable data about your walk, hike, or overall daily activity level.
A pedometer
is a small, lightweight device that clips to your waistband or belt and
measures the steps you take. By using a built-in mechanism that counts
the shock of your footstrikes (steps), the pedometer measures the distance
you travel. Pedometers use your footstrike along with your stride length
to figure out your distance. It does the math; you do the walking and
just read the results. You can use a pedometer for your daily walk in
the neighborhood, a training walk or, as many folks like to do, you can
wear a pedometer all day long to estimate a total daily activity level.
A common goal for many pedometer wearers is to walk 10,000+ steps a day.
If weight loss is your goal you could use the total steps readout to help
you determine those days you aren’t getting enough walking in.
There
are a lot of pedometers available at reasonable prices. Most of the models
will cost between $10 and $40 depending on its features. Features include
radios, clocks, timers, heart rate monitors, seven-day memories, and calories-burned
calculators. There are even pedometers that talk. They let you hear your
progress as you walk.
There
are a few useful things to consider when buying a pedometer. Make sure
you can easily read the display numbers while walking and that the pedometer
has protection from data loss for those times when its bumped (it will
happen). It is most disheartening to lose the information from your walk
or a day’s worth of activity. Although most models have some protection
built in, I like the models where you have to hold a button for two or
more seconds before the numbers reset. Other aspects to consider are ease
of use, size, a backup belt leash (in the event you knock it off your
belt), and how adjustable the stride length increments are.
Once
you’ve bought the pedometer you are almost ready to go. Before you
take your pedometer out on the road, you’ll need to determine your
stride length. This is easy. Walk 10 steps, measure the total distance
and divide by 10. If you’ve walked 25 feet in 10 steps your stride
length is 2.5 feet (25÷10=2.50). Once you’ve determined your
stride length, set it in the pedometer (some pedometers let you input
increments of .1’ and others .25’). If you’re a real stickler
on accuracy, it only takes 15 minutes to a half an hour to fine tune your
pedometer. Simply find a track or use another measurable
distance to adjust the pedometer so the distance shown on your pedometer
matches the actual distance. I used this method with my three test models
and they all did a good job.
Walking
on a flat, even surface will provide the most consistent readings because
your stride is consistent. Factors that may potentially affect your results
include uneven or hilly ground or any that affect your usual range of
motion. Remember that pedometers use a footstrike to move a pendulum,
so events other than walking can increase your pedometer’s step count.
I found that standing still and bending down and standing up increased
my step count. Not a problem, but be mindful of your activities before
telling everyone you walked 10 miles every day last week.
Pedometers
aren’t for every activity and won’t work while biking or skiing.
I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the accuracy of the units I tried
and am sure many of the other models will work fine too. For such a minimal
investment, I think most everyone might find a practical use for adding
one to their exercise regimen. Happy
Walking!
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Walk About’s
Web Pick
www.balancedweightmanagement.com
This site is full of great information with a focus on health-at-any-size.
This spring includes eating well, living actively, and feeling good about
yourself and others. This site was started by Bob Wilson who has lost
250 pounds and kept it off for 32 years and has been drug and alcohol
free for 16 years. We enjoyed this site for its great recipes, suggested
books and magazines, articles on fitness, weight loss, and just living
well.
McDonald’s Adult
Happy Meals
Coming soon to a McDonald’s near you: Adult Happy Meals featuring salad,
bottled water, a pedometer, and a little bit of advice: Walk more!
The hamburger giant
will introduce the “Go Active!” meals for grown-ups at all 13,500
of its U.S. restaurants May 6 along with other steps designed to make
its fare — and its image — more healthy.
A target of obesity
lawsuits and a magnet for criticism that fast food is unhealthy, McDonald’s
Corp. also launched a marketing blitz to address health issues head-on
and tout new diet-conscious options at its outlets.
As part of the campaign,
the company said that in June it will roll out healthier choices in its
Happy Meals for kids nationwide, such as the option to substitute apple
slices and juice for fries and a soft drink.
It also will distribute
brochures telling customers how to modify their McDonald’s orders
for lower fat, calories, and carbohydrates, such as by skipping the cheese
or bun. The promotion has been employed at its New York-region restaurants
since January.
Also new will be lowfat
salad dressing, a fourth variety of salad, and nutrition information on
Happy Meal packages starting in test markets. The company said the steps
came in response to a call by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) this year for the private sector to help fight obesity.
HHS Secretary Tommy
Thompson lauded McDonald’s for promoting balanced eating and exercise
and committing to “taking a lead role by helping educate its customers
on this seriously important health issue.”
The announcement and
a presentation by McDonald’s executives at the National Press Club
in Washington signaled the company’s biggest public-relations push
yet on obesity and diet concerns that are forcing sweeping changes in
the U.S. food and restaurant industries.
Walk About’s
New Business Find:
Conscious Weight Loss
Conscious Weight Loss, started by Mari Paulus, distinguishes itself from
other weight-loss programs by taking more than just the physical aspect
of the process into account. Emotional and psychological factors are just
as important. Mari’s approach to weight loss treats the core of the
issue, not the symptoms, and empowers people rather than treating them
as though they are helpless against the problem. Mari’s program offers
an opportunity for compulsive overeaters to learn why diets don’t
work and how diets can actually be instrumental in perpetuating weight
problems. Her classes offer a safe environment where people can come to
terms with addictive behavior with food and feel empowered.
For more information
and class schedule call: 503-502-9340 or logon to www.consciousweightloss.com
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These Sticks Are
Made for Walking
Why are more and more fitness walkers using a pair of specially designed
rubber-tipped poles whenever they walk? There are plenty of reasons for
the fast-growing popularity of this new total body version of walking.
Burning from 20%-70% more calories, simultaneously strengthening arm,
shoulder, back, abdominals, and other “core strength” trunk
muscles, taking pain and injury-causing stresses off hips, knees, and
feet, and building more cardiovascular fitness as you walk are just a
few of the documented benefits. According to fitness walking pole innovator
Tom Rutlin, “Once walkers understand the many additional benefits
of walking with poles, this total body exercise way of walking is pretty
hard to resist!”
Famed orthopedic surgeon,
J. Richard Steadman of Vail, Colorado, says, “Walking with poles
is good exercise for everyone.” He believes it can help preserve
healthy joints because walking with poles can reduce accumulated force
on joints by about 6 tons per mile. Dr. Andrew Weil has called Rutlin
“a national fitness authority” who “has made it his mission
to make walking the safest and most efficient workout possible.”
Rutlin says, “How the poles are used can make a big difference. My
easy-to-learn techniques are designed to maximize the involvement of the
large ‘core strength’ muscles of the trunk.” Each pair
of Rutlin’s poles come with both his instructional video and manual.
With these clear and thorough instructional materials anyone can begin
enjoying the many total body fitness benefits of walking with poles in
minutes. To learn more, visit www.walkingpoles.com.
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Inaugural Event
Created for
Walkers by Walkers
This first annual
Willamette Valley Relay, created by the Wonders of Walking, LLC, is offering
a spotlight of the Willamette Valley like you’ve never seen before.
You will walk through some of the most beautiful countryside Oregon has
to offer, from Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland off of I-5
to Alton Baker Park in Eugene.
The course is relatively
flat with only a couple elevation peaks to challenge the stronger walkers.
You will cruise by hop farms, open plains, and historical landmarks. You
will encounter a number of quaint towns while traveling alongside the
Willamette River.
Teams are made up
of eight (minimum) to twelve (maximum) participants. You will spend roughly
36 hours in the camaraderie of your friends and family inside a van cheering
walkers on.
The event was created
by Judy Heller, founder of Wonders of Walkers, LLC, as an event exclusively
for walkers. The casual, competitive, social walking teams will have an
experience they will never forget. Call 503-282-1677 for more information
or logon to www.wondersofwalking.com.
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