Step counters, more commonly known as pedometers, have become very popular in recent years due to our attempts to get into that healthy lifestyle. But do we really need pedometers to get fit?
During the last decade of the 20th century through the first decade of the new millennium, various types of exercise machines, exercise techniques, and healthy diets were introduced, popularized, and practiced by numerous people throughout the world. It is during this time also that an increasing number of people have been suffering from heart related diseases, diabetes and obesity. It is remarkable that more and more people have been gaining unwanted weight, and this has made our species an unhealthy bunch. And what is more distressing is the fact that the people suffering from these conditions are getting younger and younger.
More than for aesthetic reasons, we want to lose those sagging under the arms or the bulge in our abdomen. We want to lose all those excess fat in our body because we want to maintain our health; because to prolong our lives, we need a fit and conditioned body. But losing weight, as we all know, is harder than it seems. That is why many companies have seized the opportunity to produce machines, gadgets and devices that will help people keep their bodies in good condition.
The question is do we need any of these to maintain and maintain our health?
The fact is that we don’t.
You don’t really need a treadmill or stationary bike or a stair master at home just to sweat out the cholesterol stored in your system. You don’t need a multi-purpose ab machine that you’ll never use a second time or a state-of-the-art dance video to tone your abs and glutes. You don’t even have to starve yourself and deprive your palate of delicious delicacies to lose weight.
The truth is, all you need to do is walk. Walking is the simplest yet most effective aerobic exercise you could do. It requires minimal effort but could produce great results.
Walking, which requires muscle movement, burns fat. Muscle movements require energy, and the energy used by muscles usually comes from fat cells. So if you keep walking and moving your muscles, you will constantly burn fat cells.
The question now is how would you know if you have walked enough to maintain or keep your body healthy?
In fact, there is still no study that explicitly and definitively indicates how many steps a person should take every day to keep their body in shape. No scientific study has yet been published to tell us that “this number of steps per day is equivalent to a healthy daily aerobic workout.” But there are existing recommendations from health specialists that give us an estimate of how many steps roughly equal a significant aerobic workout: 10,000 steps per day.
At first glance, you would think that 10,000 steps a day is a difficult task, even almost impossible. Well, if you are planning to walk 10,000 steps in an hour or two, then it is an impossible task. But in reality, this number of steps is meant to be accomplished throughout the day. This means that from the time you start moving in the morning until you turn around at night, you should be counting your steps. In this way, the seemingly impossible task can be accomplished in a whole day. All you need is a lot of patience, dedication and a firm decision not to spend too much time sitting on your couch watching TV. You just need to decide for yourself that you are going to start walking and start living a healthy lifestyle.
Now how to count and track your steps is the hard part. You may have decided to walk 10,000 steps a day, but without the right devices or gadgets, you could lose count.
This is where pedometers come into the picture. Pedometers are step counters, and as such, they keep track of the number of steps you’ve taken. This is the main purpose of pedometers; to count steps. Since physical activation became popular, many companies have sprung up and started to produce, manufacture and introduce different types of pedometers and step counters to the market.
It has even evolved from a mechanical device to an electronic device. There are step counters nowadays that use electronic sensors and are meant to count steps more accurately compared to mechanical ones. These are called accelerometers. There are also pedometers that make use of global positioning systems or (GPS). These aren’t technically pedometers since they don’t count steps, but these GPS “pedometers” are very accurate at measuring the distance traveled by the user.
Many of these devices are available for people to use. But you must be careful with these devices. Although there are brands that are known to have accurate calculations and readings, what you want and need from these step counters, there are brands that are far from accurate. These brands usually market their products very well, which means that their pedometers or accelerometers will have a modern look or cool and attractive design, but the performance will be really poor and disappointing.
To avoid this, you should first search for Pedometer Reviews to determine which pedometers are best suited for your needs and which brands actually produce reliable and accurate pedometers.
Remember that pedometers are designed for step counting, so if you’re looking for pedometers, you need to consider the accuracy of this feature. Most pedometers offer or have other features besides step counting, they are usually inaccurate, but that’s okay since what you really want to calculate and track is your number of steps. So you should keep that in mind. All other features are only a bonus if they work and if they are accurate.
Also, keep in mind that single-lever pedometers generally don’t work well on heavier people. Whether they have impressive reviews or not, they are still one-of-a-kind levers that will be inaccurate when tipped. To avoid inaccuracies in step counting, it’s best to use accelerometers. That is if your waist sticks out more than normal.
Now back to our main question, do we really need pedometers? The answer is no. Pedometers and accelerometers are tools and devices that will keep track and count the steps we take in a day. It is a useful and useful tool that will allow us to stay focused and motivated to move and participate in physical activities. But there is no inherent need for it.
If you want to walk for fitness to maintain your health or improve your physique, then by all means go for it. You can walk for fitness without having to meet the recommended 10,000 steps a day, and you can walk without the use of a pedometer if you wish. But if you want to stick to the recommended number of steps and if you want to keep track of your daily progress as a new fitness walker, then pedometers or step counters would be a very useful tool for you.
