When I was home a couple weekends ago, my mom gave me a pedometer. I know what you’re thinking… a pedometer? Well, the crazy thing is that I had actually been thinking about getting one for a while. Even weirder, right? Here’s the thing: I used to walk a lot. I’d get off the subway two stops early and walk the rest of the way to work. Then, I’d do the reverse on the way home. But when I was actually at work, and sometimes on the weekend, I didn’t walk all that much. I work at a desk all day and don’t always make it outside at lunch. So… I had the idea that using a pedometer would tell me how much I’m actually walking and how much more walking I need to do.
It’s generally accepted that we should all walk 10,000 steps a day. I just read on PBS.org that this is a rough equivalent to the Surgeon Generals recommendation of 30minutes of exercise each day. But doing a little Google search for this post I found a study reported on in Science Daily that states 10,000 steps isn’t enough for men and women under the age of 50. It’s actually more like 12,000. Great.
So, let’s see how well I did. And…not so well.
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
What I’ve learned:
It is easy to get to 10K steps when you go to the gym and workout. It’s also helpful to get way above 10K when you go on an extra long walk, miss the street you’re supposed to turn on, then go even further than planned and forget your Metrocard so you have to walk all the way back home. It’s not so easy to hit 10K when you don’t go to the gym, when you’re at work all day, and you spend long periods of time stuck at your desk. Which means it’s probably really hard, on a daily basis, for people who don’t work out and don’t commute by public transit, to hit 10,000 let alone 12,000 steps a day.
This particular pedometer is pretty cool because it keeps 7 days in memory, converts steps to miles, calories and fat grams, has an activity tracker, and, you might have noticed on the first three pictures, that once you hit 10,000 steps a little guy cheers for you! It sounds cheesy, and it is, but it’s also kinda fun and motivating. I actually compete with myself each day to go farther. So simple, yet so effective. I have a feeling I’ll be keeping with this for a while as I try to lose a few lbs. I gained while injured, gain strength and build endurance.
I think it’s worth it for everyone to use a pedometer for a few days to see how many steps we’re actually walking. I bet it might be a bit enlightening!
Happy Friday!
- Have you ever used a pedometer? What did you find using it?
- Outside of your workouts, how active are you each day?
- How crazy do you think I am because I find this cool?
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Today’s workout -
- 35min elliptical
- 2x15 (ea. side) cable pull twist
- 2x15 seated row
- 2x15 lateral arm raise
- 2x15 kickbacks
- 3x10 leg press
- 100 ab exercises
- 2x10 bridge
- stretching
3 comments:
That is so awesome! In fact I have been thinking about getting a pedometer lately too. My mom has one because every year her company does a challenge in March to get the people to walk more and hands out free pedometers. Its not as snazzy as yours but its still a good idea. I may have to look into that pedometer you have and give it a try!
Very interesting experiment! I should try it. I stand at my desk all day, and walk the kids to/from school, but other than that, don't really do much in the way of walking. I know I should change that!
I really do need to do this. I feel like I take more steps than I bet I actually do!
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