12 May 2009

Things learned from a week of wearing a pedometer

A pedometer is a device that counts the number of steps walked, and also estimates distance covered (based on stride length) and calories burned in the process (based on body weight). I acquired one recently to find out how much walking I do in my daily life. It's an Omron HJ-112, and I have no idea how it works, except I keep imagining that it contains artificial semicircular canals. That's probably not it, but it manages to be pretty accurate as long as I either clip it to some part of my clothing that doesn't move much (the top of my pants works well) or keep it in a snug pocket. Too much swinging around in a loose pocket confuses it mightily, as does walking funny.

The recommended walk count is 10,000 steps per day. I get nowhere close to that. On a workday it tends to be somewhere between 2000 and 2500, and on weekends it's much less - but that's partly because I forget to wear it while I'm bumbling around at home. Could I actually manage 10k steps in a single day? Hmm. I'd probably have to leave the computer and go outside. o.O

9 comments:

Megadeus said...

Go outside? Why would anyone ever do that?

John the Scientist said...

Not for long, if you run. Say ~2000 steps per mile, that's only a 5 mile run. :p

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

Run? Outside?

What language are you using, John? These words -- they make no sense.

Dr. Phil

neurondoc said...

La-la-la-la, I can't hear you, John...

MWT said...

I think I'm definitely more for 5 yard runs... some days, 5 feet runs...

John the Scientist said...

9.5 miles yesterday :p

MWT said...

Nobody likes a showoff. :p

Carol Elaine said...

I've always thought John was a little insane. He's just furnished proof.

Random Michelle K said...

MWT,

Instead of being overwhelmed by the idea of 10k steps, just try and get a couple more steps every day than you did the day before.