A pedometer is a small device, usually worn at the waistband, that measures the distance you walk or run based on the movement of your body. Some pedometers count the steps you take while others measure distance, calories burned and even the time you've been walking or jogging. They can be especially helpful if you're trying to reach a target number of steps taken during the day.
How to Use Your Pedometer
To ensure that you get an accurate reading on your pedometer, you'll have to calibrate it and ensure that it is fastened securely against your hip. If it flops around too much, you won't get an accurate count. The main goal of calibrating a pedometer is to measure your stride length. If the pedometer is just counting steps you walk, you should know how long your walking stride is so you can translate your number of walking steps into a distance covered. If your pedometer is designed to measure actual distances, you will have to program it with your stride length. Some pedometers allow you to change the measurement between walking and running, as your running stride is longer than your walking stride and your stride up hill is longer than your stride on a flat surface.
Suggestions
If your walking goal is 10,000 steps per day, but you're going to reach that goal in spurts like walking the dog, shopping at the mall and a brisk walk around the neighborhood, wearing a pedometer all day is recommended. Have it securely clipped onto your belt or otherwise tight against your hip bone and check it periodically to ensure it's still recording all your steps.
Pedometer History
The development of devices aimed at counting steps has been linked to Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson and other inventors. But it was the Japanese development of the modern pedometer in the 1960s and the worldwide running craze that emerged in the 1970s that established the pedometer as a vital fitness gadget. As technology has continued to improve, and simple pedometers became inexpensive in the early 21st century and high-tech innovators were able to create pedometers capable of not only recording steps, distance and calories burned, but of transferring that data onto your computer.
Limitations
Basic pedometers work fine when you're walking or running on a level surface, even a treadmill. But on an uneven surface, or equipment such as an elliptical or stairclimber machine, a pedometer loses much of its accuracy. Likewise, riding a bicycle will not provide an accurate distance measure with a pedometer. However, bicycles can be equipped with odometers and speedometers.
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