WalkAndWorkout.com

Omron HJ112 Digital Pedometer

Walking is a great way to lose weight, get in shape and achieve a whole host of significant health benefits. It’s easy to do, no training is required, and you won’t need any special equipment either. You can do it just about anywhere – there’s no need to visit the gym – which means that there are no expensive monthly membership fees either. You can fit it into your day whenever it suits you best. Do it in one session or break it into a number of shorter sessions between other activities.  It’s entirely up to you.

One piece of essential equipment for walking is a good comfortable pair of shoes. If your shoes give you blisters or cause you discomfort, then it will be difficult to motivate yourself to keep up with your walking workout program. So make sure that you have a good pair that you’re happy with. If you want to, you could get some of the latest designs of fitness footwear which help to increase the amount of work that your lower body muscles perform during normal activity.

There are a variety of different makes on the market – Skechers Shape Ups, Reeboks Easy Tones, Fit flops exercise sandals and Masai Barefoot Technology are amongst the best known and most popular – but there are more brands appearing on the market all the time. They do have some slight variances, but the common aspect seems to be a specially designed sole which boosts the amount of work done by your leg and butt muscles. This increases the effectiveness of your workout and helps you to get the maximum return from your walking schedule.

The generally accepted target figure in order to achieve health and fitness benefits is 10,000 steps daily. Many people find that wearing a pedometer can be a useful motivational aid to help them add more steps into their day and get closer to the target figure. Pedometers are inexpensive these days but, if you think that having one would help you to stay motivated you should be sure to get a good quality one.

Recent research found that a large number of pedometers were inaccurate – some by as much as 50%. In general, the tendency was for inaccurate pedometers to overestimate the number of steps taken – so someone who was doing 5,000 steps a day might think that they were achieving their 10,000 step target. The reason is due to the fact that the cheapest pedometers tend to use a hairspring technology which is calibrated in the factory during manufacture. These tend to become less and less accurate as the pedometer ages – with an increasing tendency to overestimate the number of steps being the norm.

Better models use coiled spring technology and dual accelerometer sensors which means that they are more accurate and have a longer lifespan and can be carried in your pocket or a bag rather than worn on your belt. An Omron pedometer typically has an accuracy of plus or minus 5%. Other quality brands include Taneka, Yamax and New Lifestyles.

If you want to check how accurate your pedometer is there are two simple tests you can do. The first is to simply count out 100 steps and compare it with what your pedometer says. The second is to note the reading on your pedometer when you first sit down – at your desk at work for example – and then to check it again after being seated for half an hour. If it rises significantly due to your normal movements whilst seated then it will overestimate your step count.

Most pedometers are digital these days of course. They usually have a memory and you can generally see your results for 7 days – useful if you want to monitor your progress. Some even allow you to load your results into your computer using a USB connection so that you can monitor your results over time. You can normally change the way in which your results are displayed as well. Choose from the number of steps, the distance covered or the number of calories burned – whichever helps you to keep motivated.

Pedometer Walking at Amazon ...

Do you actually know how many steps you take, on average, on a daily basis? If you already walk for exercise then you probably have a rough idea about what distance you cover – maybe you can convert this into a rough estimate of the number of steps you take.

On the other hand, if you are considering starting walking for exercise then you probably have no idea what your average daily step count is. It can vary quite a lot depending upon your personal circumstances.

Health professionals recommend 10,000 steps a day as the target in order to get all the benefits that walking can give you. That’s a total number – it includes all the walking that you already do during the course of a normal day.

So that’s a bit of good news. The bad news is that you probably don’t do all that many steps every day. If you’re in the habit of driving to work, or travelling by bus, then you could be at 3,000 steps per day – or maybe even less.

However, the key thing is to know what your current average number of steps is and then take action to increase this towards the 10,000 steps a day target value.  A pedometer is a good way to get a handle on your current activity level. In addition to telling you how many steps you take it can also display your activity in terms of distance covered or calories burned. That might be more motivating for many people.

Once you know how many steps you average you can decide on a plan to increase the number. You don’t have to go for a five mile trek every day – simply building more walking into your daily routine can be a big help. And don’t forget, you don’t have to do it all at once. Build up slowly and walk further only when you are comfortable to do so.

There are plenty of different ways to fit walking into your day and get the health benefits as well as shedding a few pounds. They soon add up.

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One of the great things about walking for exercise is the fact that you can fit it into your day whenever it suits you best. There’s no need to make time for a trip to the gym or the track.

Even so, it can be hard to change your routine – to break old habits and start new ones. Here are some suggestions – all achievable to a greater or lesser degree depending upon your location and circumstances – which might help:

• Go for a long walk in the country. No need to hurry – take it easy and enjoy the view.
• Leave the car at home and walk to work – the shops – school.
• If you travel by bus or metro, then get off one or two stops early and complete your journey on foot.
• If you take your car to work or the shops, then park in the corner of the parking lot that’s furthest away from the entrance so that you have to walk further.
• At lunch time, take a ten or fifteen minute walk around the block instead of sitting slumped in front of your computer.
• Go to the local shopping mall and walk around it a few times. It’s secure and you can do this whatever the weather is doing.

How many calories do you burn when walking?

A calorie is simply a unit of energy – so the number of calories that you burn during any particular activity is simply a measurement of how much energy you expend during that activity.

In the case of walking, the amount of energy expended is given by multiplying your weight by the distance covered. The more you weigh, the more calories you will burn per mile.

The speed of walking does have an impact on the number of calories burned per mile. Somewhat surprisingly, walking slowly can burn off more calories than walking quickly. This is due to the fact that, when walking very slowly, you are stopping and starting with every step and your momentum isn’t helping to carry you forward.

At higher speeds, you will tend to use your upper body more – swinging your arms as you stride along – and this will help to burn a few more calories.

Calories Burned Per Mile By Walking

As a rough guide, assume that a 180 lb person will burn 100 calories per mile and pro-rata your own calorie consumption based on your weight.

If you want to be more precise then you could always get yourself a pedometer – such as an Omron pedometer – which will tell you how many steps you’ve taken, what distance you’ve covered and how many calories you’ve burned off.

What Is Nordic Walking?
Nordic walking originated in Finland when cross country skiers were looking for a way to keep fit and get in shape for the skiing season during the summer months. It’s quite similar to skiing without skis – basically you use a couple of modified ski poles whilst walking. The video below shows the basic technique.

The Advantages Of Nordic Walking
Nordic walking involves the muscles in the upper body more than normal walking. This means that it offers some advantages when compared with “standard” walking:

• It burns more calories than normal walking – up to 46% more.
• It improves posture and gait.
• It reduces stress on muscles and joints.
• It strengthens the back and abdominal muscles.
• It reduces tension in the shoulders and neck.
• Use of Nordic walking poles provides increased stability – which means that some people who might not otherwise be able can enjoy a high intensity workout.

10,000 steps a day is the generally accepted limit for people to get the full benefit of weight loss and all the other health benefits which walking offers. That’s equivalent to around 4.5 to 5 miles for most people – depending upon stride length. Again, it depends upon the speed that you walk at, but at a reasonably rapid pace, it equates to just over an hour’s walking a day.

Walking for half an hour just three or four days a week will produce some definite benefits for you – but if you can gradually work up to 10,000 steps a day – it’s easier to do than you might imagine – then you will really reap the rewards.

Check out the video below from “Good Housekeeping”. It has some good information about walking to lose weight and some great suggestions as to how you can boost the number of steps you take each day without any major disruption to your daily routine.