Taking 10,000 steps every day--a near mythical number, thanks to heavy promotion--sounds more manageable than walking the equivalent five miles every day. But Omron pedometers do more than just count how many steps you've taken; most of them also calculate distance traveled plus calories and fat grams burned. When set correctly, some Omron pedometers can even measure the appropriate stride lengths for walking, running, hiking or aerobic steps.
Know Your Stride
If you want to it to tell you how far your steps have taken you, you need to enter your average stride length. For pedometers that measure more than one type of stride--walking or running, for example--you must calculate a stride length for each type of pace.
The easiest way to do this is pacing off ten steps, marking your start and finish locations with a piece of tape. Measure between the pieces of tape and divide by ten to get the average length of each stride. If you want to measure your running stride, run the 10 steps. If you want to measure your hiking stride, go outdoors on the type of terrain you typically hike and measure there, using sticks instead of tape to mark your start and stop locations.
Input the Data
Most Omron pedometers have a "Set" button. It may be located on the front, side or back of the pedometer. Pushing this button allows you to start inputting data. You may have to input miscellaneous data like time of day, date, your weight and age before you can input the stride length. The extra data is necessary for features like storing your workout data in memory or estimating calories burned.
Proper Pedometer Wear
No matter how much data you've put in your pedometer, it won't do you any good unless you're wearing it properly. Omron pedometers come in single, dual- or triple-axis configurations. The more axes a pedometer has, the more ways it can be oriented and still count steps accurately.
The surest way to wear your pedometer is to clip it, right side up, to the belt or waistline just above your mid thigh. Imagine lining the pedometer up with where the crease would be in a freshly pressed pair of slacks.
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