Regular physical activity offers many health benefits including disease prevention and weight management, which is a simple matter of balancing your caloric intake with your energy expenditure, explains James Hill, author of "The Step Diet." A pedometer can provide the ideal tool to increase your motivation and help keep you active.
Calibrating Your Pedometer
You will need to calibrate your pedometer before you can use it. At the very least, you will need to set your stride length or the distance you cover in one step. You can calculate this figure by walking a defined distance and counting your steps. You can then divide the distance by the number of steps. Generally, a woman's stride is about 2.2 feet and a man's is about 2.5 feet. This figure is important to determine the distance you walk each day. Depending upon your model, you may also need to enter additional information such as your weight along with stride length.
Increasing Steps
One of the best ways to integrate a pedometer into your daily life is to use it as a means to increase the number of steps you take each day. A 2010 study by the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences concluded that sitting for prolonged periods of time may increase your risk of obesity, heart disease and insulin resistance. Your pedometer results can provide the necessary incentive to keep you moving. Find ways to get in extra steps such as taking the stairs versus the elevator or walking to destinations within a mile of your home instead of driving.
Weight Loss
Your pedometer may be just the tool you need to lose weight. The Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc. estimates that you will need to walk at least 12,000 steps a day for weight loss. Without a pedometer, it is difficult to gauge how much you are walking. The pedometer will give you accurate data of your activity. You can begin by determining your average number of steps per day. Then, you can set weekly goals to increase your steps until you reach 12,000 steps a day.
Calorie Burn
Another way you can use a pedometer for weight loss involves calorie burn. You will need a pedometer that tracks both steps and calories. To lose a pound a week, you will need to burn an additional 500 calories a day. You can use your pedometer to gauge your daily calorie burn and put you on track for weight control. You can check your pedometer periodically during the day to find out what your calorie burn is so far. If you fall short of 500 calories, you can increase your activity to increase your calorie burn. Having this defined goal can be highly motivating.
References
- "The Step Diet"; J. Hill, J. Peters, and B. Jortberg; 2004
- University of Iowa: Taking Strides
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; Are We Facing a New Paradigm of Inactivity Physiology?; E. Ekblom-Bak, et al.; February 2010
- Connecticut Public Broadcasting, Inc.: The 20% Boost Program: Fit Walking into Your Life
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