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Author:

Mark Fenton, BS, MS

Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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If you like gadgets, you'll love using a pedometer. It's smaller than a cell phone, and you wear a pedometer on your belt to record the number of steps you take. Digital pedometers record not only your steps based on your body's movement but will convert those steps to miles. Some even tell the time and estimate the calories you've burned based on your body weight. Less-sophisticated pedometers simply click off the number of steps taken. The point is that you are walking and tracking your distance.

Pedometers also work well for people who simply don't have time or don't take time to walk consistently as a form of exercise. By tracking the number of steps you take each day simply doing your regular daily activities, you may find that you're getting in plenty of exercise. Some experts recommend 10,000 steps a day. Others say this would be an eventual target.

• In normal daily activity, adults cover about 2-3 miles. About 2,000 steps equal a mile. To make walking a beneficial activity, you would need to come up with at least another 4,000 steps in a day. You can find ways to add steps here and there, such as walking farther from parking lots, taking stairs when available instead of escalators and elevators, walking the long way to get somewhere in your office building, walking your children to school, having a walk/talk meeting instead of sitting down in a conference room, or planning a short walk around the block as a break.
• For sedentary (inactive) people who, for example, work at computers all day or drive vehicles for a living, set your goals lower and try to add steps when you can. Be realistic. Log your steps each day and try to add more.

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