Vote in This Week's Poll: Do you use a pedometer?
Monday July 28, 2008
In my Friday blog entry, I talked about the excitement of using a pedometer. Well, actually it isn't all that exciting to use one, but it does motivate people to exercise more, which is always a good thing.
When I talked to my husband about this topic, he stared at me as though I'd grown a third ear on my forehead, eventually saying, "A pedometer? That must be a chick thing." Hey, it's not like pedometers are frilly pink things you clip to a hair ribbon when you go to the mall.
Anyway, that made me curious about the rest of you. First, do you use a pedometer to stay active or to motivate you during your walking workouts? Vote in the poll and then, second, leave a comment and tell us your thoughts on men, women and pedometers. Are pedometers only for chicks?
Poll: Do you use a pedometer?
1. Yes
2. Sometimes
3. Rarely
4. No
5. Other - please explain in comments
Comments
I wear my Omron pedometer every day from the time I get dressed to bedtime. It’s a motivator to make sure I get an average of 10,000 steps a day.
I really enjoy my pedometer. I have one that talks to me. It not only motivates me to average 7500 steps a day, but I love it when it reports, “You have burned _____ calories.” Because it also reports time and steps, it also encourages me to keep up my speed.
I actually use the Nike+Ipod, its a little expensive, but it helps to motivate you and you can track your progress very easily.
I have used a pedometer and I did so well with it that I stopped using it. However, I am purchasing a pedometer/radio combo so I am going to start using one again.
I have a pedometer that needs a battery. As soon as I get one I will start using it again to help me increase my daily steps.
I would love to use the one I order “IF” it would work. I paid $30. for it and it doesn’t do a durn thing.
I had one - loved it, great gadget for instant gratification. Then it broke, I still walk but miss looking at the silly thing and seeing the number of steps walked and calories burned.
If a gadget will help motivate me to walk a little longer or try a little harder, its OK with me - chick toy or not.
I use a heart rate monitor during my elliptical workouts. I’m interested in keeping the heart rate between 80 and 90% max, and the calories burned from a workout, over 45 mins. The number of steps or “distance” is of little value to me.
The elliptical machine monitors my heart rate and adjusts the resistance level according to the workout I’m doing. The Polar wrist unit records the heart rate for the entire workout, and allows me to log the data on their website. I’ve got all the workout information (”distance”, calories burned, number of minutes, number of workouts) for the entire time I’ve had the Polar wrist unit (2 1/2 yrs), in my Polar on-line account. I can chart and graph the data over the entire time or any time slice.
I love my pedometer! If I’m making all my steps early in the day, I know it. Conversely, if by later afternoon I have not been active enough, to reach my goal of 12,000 steps/day, I know I need to get moving.
I wear my Omron pedometer from the moment I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night. It is my motivation to get at least 12,000 steps a day and a peek at it through out the day lets me know how I am doing. I also use it to measure my dedicated (aerobic) walking and because it is calibrated I know how far I walked and how long it took me to do it.
I bought a couple of pedometers, but I kept losing them. My wife uses one, though, and she loves it. She’s amazed how many steps she can take on a busy day!
Every time I have tried to use a pedometer-whether cheap or expensive, I find that it is usually overstating my steps. I would take a step then move to pick something up and look down and it says I went 5 steps! I just didn’t find them credible. I also use a heart rate monitor during my workouts. I find the information from it more informative.
I also use a Nike+ipod. It’s very motivating and I’m very glad I bought it. Tells you everything you need to know while running/walking.
I have had many pedometers and the Omron is by far the best. I wear it every day and highly reccommend it to everyone. Very simple to use and it resets itself each morning.
I use my Omron pedometer for my 10,000 plus steps per day. It re-sets at midnight so no cheating it motivates me to keep my walking schedule. I stopped using pedometer for a while and I got complacent am now back on board with pedometer.
I have two pedometers and would love to use them for motivation purposes, but I have a hard time getting them to stay on throughout my day. They are okay if I’m just walking, but not getting up and down at work and such. Also, they are not comfortable to wear all day. When I’m sitting they dig into my waist. Any suggestions for pedometers that don’t have these issues would be awesome!
I don’t have a pedometer, but I’m interested in getting one. There’s just so many on the market that I don’t know which ones I might like and what looks good. I suppose instead of shopping online I should actually go into a store and handle one…
I have an Omron NJ-112. It has a holster that is removable and a backup safety strap. Without the holster it fits fine in even a small pocket and still reads correctly. This is my second one-after two years+ of constant wear it was a little worn out. I got it on Amazon for about $20. The backup strap prevents a lot of dropping.
I just bought a Sportcraft EX700 (if that means anything) and haven’t set it up as yet.
Why such a big difference between Rarely and Sometimes? Are they not the same thing. I use my pedometer “rarely” as in “sometimes”, but most of the time, no.
I am 82 and wear my Omron from “dawn to dusk”.
Getting in my daily 10,000 steps with 50 aerobic minutes has resulted in my dropping diabetes meds, halfing blood pressure meds and greatly reducing back pain from a spinal fusion.
Go, Ruth! What a motivator! When I got diagnosed with diabetes I started going to a gym three times a week. It was a special program for people with disabilities, of which I have several. I had a one-on-one physical therapy aide supervised by a physical therapist. There was a lot of turnover with the aides because they were students doing internships and when they graduated they went on to move back to their home towns and so on. That was kind of hard because you’d just get used to someone and they’d know your little idiosyncracies and how to best help you and then another intern would come along. I would joke with them about how I had to train them before they could train me. Well, since I’m blind I couldn’t set the machines or know my progress without being told. It’s a bit ironic that a program for people with disabilities wouldn’t take into account the accessibility needs of blind people. But I guess they thought they were doing that by providing constant help, which was true because it was better than when I went to a local YMCA to do water aerobics and the instructor wouldn’t take time, either in class or after and wouldn’t even set up an appointment to help me learn the moves, which everyone else did by watching. In my book, she was a poor teacher because she didn’t take into account the fact that people have different learning styles whether there are other disabilities or not. So this program I was in was good. Of course, because I had other disabilities as well, I didn’t have enough balance to walk unassisted on a treadmill. I needed to touch the rails lightly because if I didn’t, I couldn’t stay in place and several times almost fell off. But they were really patient with me there. I couldn’t do a regular exercise bike so I did a special machine where you sat on it and you could hold on while you pumped your legs, kind of like you would on an old player piano or pump organ except that the resistance could be adjusted. Again, I couldn’t use the controls. But it did help with the cardio and then I did strength training, making adaptations with machines as I was advised to do. But then the program closed. I’m not sure why. But I was given these rubber bands, I guess they call them resistance bands, so I use them and I have ankle and knee exercises and exercises for hips and abs and I do a lot of stretching. But I sure miss that program. It’s hard for me to be motivated though. I have a friend who walks with me a couple of times a week. I use a support cane when I walk though, it’s a white one with a red tip for blind people but not like a long white travel cane; it’s a VIP cane that is colored so people can tell you have visual impairment or blindness but is also a support cane. When I walk by myself, I have to use two canes but when I walk with Mary I hold onto her and use the other cane. But Mary is a fast walkwe and I hate to slow her down.
I found some talking pedometers online and some of them even tell you how many calories you’ve burned as well as distance walked and some have radios. I read on the walking site that it’s still good exercise to do that even if you can’t go very fast. I keep thinking that it might be a good thing to buy one of those talking pedometers. They’re not that expensive. But then, I wonder how accurate they would be. Besides that, I can’t imagine walking 10.000 steps a day even though I know that’s what they say you should walk, between ten and 12 thousand or more steps a day. It all sounds so overwhelming! But when I went to that program I lost over forty pounds. I still need to lose 20 more because I’d love to chuck the diabetes meds. I have so many other ones I know I can’t get off but the diabetes is just another thing to deal with. Fortunately, they have talking blood glucose monitors and blood pressure meters and I do test regularly and try to eat a well-balanced diet. But I’m sure sorry they closed that program. I don’t think they have another one like it, at least not around here. Some people say they go to regular gyms and they have no trouble. But when I went to the Y and they couldn’t help me and wouldn’t give me my money back even though I only went for a couple of times I guess I got a little frustrated and didn’t want to have another repeat experience. I can’t afford a private personal trainer. Even if I could, I’d need one who was used to working with people who have multiple disabilities. For instance, when I was in the other program and I hurt my back, the physical therapist gave me special exercises and had me work on this machine that massaged my back and I didn’t exercise so long or so hard but I had to stretch my muscles on that machine. The physical therapists supervised and I guess they decided what kind of program we followed.
I have a lot of things that talk, including, unfortunately, a talking scale. I don’t find that particularly motivating, I find it discouraging if I think I’m not losing as fast as I should. I’m afraid the same thing would happen if I had a pedometer and couldn’t meet the lofty 10,000 steps per day goal. But it does seem like a lot of people use them and like them.
As for the poll and the difference between “sometimes” and “rarely”, to me, is that “sometimes” is more like “occasionally” and “rarely” is more like “almost never”. I sometimes go out to eat, maybe once or twice a month. I rarely watch TV because we don’t have cable. But I was at a neighbor’s house the other night and watched jeopardy, a game that you don’t have to see to appreciate and a favorite of mine. But I hadn’t watched TV in years. That’s rarely, at least to me.
I would love to use a pedometer and actually own several. But I can never get them to correctly count my steps. Is there one that is easy to calibrate? I am pedometer challenged!
I use one but they either break, come off, or reset themselves. I just bought a new pedometer. I started off with 10,000 steps per day. Once I accomplished that daily goal, over a three month time frame, I increse it to 12,000 steps daily. I’m up to 15,000 steps per day. The pedometer keeps me active and to meet the daily goals I must keep moving. It helps me stay off the couch and on my feet.
I LOVE my Omron with the holster and strap that prevents it from dropping. If I ever forget to put it on or in my pocket I feel like I am missing something. Great motivator and fun to track your weekly/monthly, yearly steps on your PC with the included cd. Get it at Amazon, it is highly rated for accuracy as well according to the study mentiond at about.com walking forum.
I really like using a pedometer, but I am heavy and generally wear pants with stretch waists and the pedometers don’t work. I would love to find some way to be able to use a pedometer!
I just got an EX 700 and can’t figure out how to set it up. Any help?