Our living conditions today are very different from how our ancestors live thousands of years ago. We do not need to hunt, fish or farm to eat and live. As long as we have the money, we can find everything we need at the nearest grocery or convenient store. Due to the comfort and convenience that we enjoy, we move less and fall into the pit of a sedentary lifestyle.

As a result, we keep on gaining extra pounds that we tend to get overweight or obese. Obesity becomes one of the serious health problems today. In fact, this health condition is linked to cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses. With all the health threats obesity brings, this should convince us to move. If you want to motivate yourself to move, you should track your activities, create fitness goals, and motivate yourself to reach your goals regularly. Pedometers are designed to help you achieve all of these things.

Why Choose A Pedometer?

A pedometer is the cheapest tracking device that you can use to count your steps. Medical professionals advised that we should take at least 10,000 steps a day. Unfortunately, you can’t just count every step you make, at some point, you will forget to count or maybe over count. Also, you can’t rely on your counting accuracy of counting up to 10,000 steps for the whole day. Thus, you should get yourself a pedometer and let this fitness tracking device do the counting for you.

In addition, pedometers are easy to use. You just have to clip it on your belt, place it in your pocket or bag, or wear it on your wrist just like your watch. It also offers easy to read stats that include your step count, calories burned, and distance travelled.

How Pedometers Work

Pedometers are equipped with a small pendulum that tilts each time you move. You may hear the device clicks when in use. The pedometer senses your movements and records it as a step and the process repeats as long as you move.

However, you have to give your pedometer a margin of error because pedometers are not 100% accurate. You also have to take note that there are better ways of using it. For instance, wearing it near your hip gives more accurate results.

How Helpful Is Pedometer For You

Pedometer tracks your activities, from the number of steps you take, calories you burned and distance you travelled. With this information, you can determine if you are living a sedentary lifestyle (less than 5,000 steps a day) or not. You can also assess how far or near you are to the recommended daily steps that is 10,000 steps.

Most customers who purchased pedometers did it to track their number of steps and the device proves to be an efficient motivator. Some pedometer users admitted that at the end of the day when they are still a hundred or more steps away from their target, they get out of bed for a short walk just to achieve the 10,000 steps. When they notice that they are still thousands of steps behind, they allot an hour or so to walk before or after dinner just to reach their target step counts.

So if you want something to remind you of your fitness goal, this fitness tracking device is great in doing so. It is also effective in keeping you in your shoes to add more steps until you reach your goal. Will you allow yourself to miss your goal if you are only a hundred steps behind? Or will you allow yourself to continue with your sedentary lifestyle by only taking too few steps throughout the day? If you answer “No” to any of the questions, getting a pedometer will surely make a great motivator for you.

How To Use Your Pedometer

If you have already purchased your new pedometer, before heading for a walk or run outside, consider your safety first. Here are a few tips to avoid injuries:

• To keep yourself away from injuries, start to work up slowly. If you have issues with your joints, ankles, knees or hips, discuss this with your physician first.
• Get yourself a good pair of sneakers. We recommend that you get yourself a durable running shoe with plenty of cushion. Walking everyday may wear out your sneakers and you may have to replace it after a few months.
• If you experience pain or discomfort, you may ask yourself if you need new sneakers.
• If pain persists, see your doctor.

How to get going with your pedometer

• Wear your pedometer every day for two weeks without changing your routine. Record your number of steps before you go to bed for the entire two-week period. At the end of two weeks, assess your step count. Perhaps, there are days when you only walk as few as 800 steps or it may be as high as 3,000 steps. No matter what your number of steps are, compare it against your supposed target, which is 10,000 steps or maybe lesser for your initial goal.
• Since aiming for 10,000 steps immediately is impossible if you only walk 2,000 or 3,000 steps a day, pick your highest number of steps, say 3,000 and aim to reach that number of steps every day in the next two weeks. Before bedtime, make sure that you log your actual step count.
• After two weeks, add another 500 steps to your goal. So, in the next two weeks, you should walk 3,500 steps daily.
• Continue this practice until you reach the goal of 10,000 steps a day.

Tips To Maintain Your Fitness Goal

When you already reached 10,000 steps, you just don’t stop because your fitness goal is good for a lifetime. You have to keep on moving and keep on walking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Here’s how to proceed when you are already walking 10,000 steps daily.

• Dedicate yourself to your daily goal of walking 10,000 steps a day for at least six months. If you do this, you are more likely to maintain your goal permanently. Remember, the goal is to develop this habit for life.
• If you skip a few days due to illness, work or other obligations, be sure to return to the habit when you have the opportunity. The sooner you get back to your routine the better.
• If possible, do not miss your goal two times in a row because it might lead to a downward spiral. The more days you skip, the more likely you will abandon your goal.
• If you are bored with your daily walk, entertain yourself while walking by listening to your favorite playlist or podcast.
• If you are bored with the program altogether, perhaps, it is high time that you get yourself a more comprehensive fitness program.
• Another great solution to boredom is to find a walking buddy. You may also join an organization that is dedicated to walking. When you join this type of groups, finding a walking buddy will be easier.

If you want to step up, keep yourself active and motivate yourself to keep moving, investing in  a good pedometer is one of the best decisions you can do to achieve this goal. Pedometer is cheap, easy to use and very efficient in counting your step. This fitness tracking device is a common tool to anyone who walks or jog regularly. So if you want to engage in these activities, be sure to equip yourself with a pedometer.