We don’t hear much about pedometers and it is not even hard to believe that many who have heard of it don’t know what it does, how it works or what it is used for. The pedometer, also sometimes known as a stepometer, is just a device that can measure the distance traveled by the person wearing it while they walk or run. The pedometer is able to calculate the distance by monitoring the movements made by the wearer’s hips. However, information regarding the individual’s stride length has to be entered and this is usually around 2.5′ for men and 2.2′ for women.

Pedometers are portable and only have to be attached to the waistband of the wearer in order to be used for the entire day. Since the necessary calibrations are already entered into the pedometer, the distance traveled can easily be calculated using the number of steps taken during the day. The good thing about pedometers is that they don’t have to actively be monitored while worn and that makes them hassle free.

Pedometers have a long history and the original inventor of this device was supposedly Thomas Jefferson who was also the 3rd president of the United States. Since he did not take out a patent for his invention, it is not clear if he just was behind popularizing the devices or actually designed it. In the beginning, pedometers worked on the same principles as a pendulum. The pedometer was attached to the waist and readings were collected as the wearer walked or ran. Inventions similar to the pedometer can be dated back to time before the 15th century and Roman soldiers even had devices similar to this to determine the distance walked. The old devices were not as accurate as those of today, though.

There are many groups that can use a pedometer and one of them is doctors. This device lets doctors collect data on patients and that makes it easy to see how much effort a patient is putting into their required exercise program. For patients that need the daily exercise for health reasons, this information for doctors becomes even more important. Some of the pedometers available now can even post the collected data directly to a server where the doctor can directly access and monitor the patient’s progress.

Another reason for using the pedometer is simply exercise. Some people are using the pedometer to make their exercise routine more efficient. Using the pedometer, the user can be able to monitor his/her exercise program more closely. One can also be able to set realistic goals to increase their exercise threshold based on the information that they have collected using the device.

Another way that pedometers are used is for research purposes. Since they are now part of many GPS or GPRS enabled equipment, any data collected by the pedometer can be posted online right away. Some medical research firms actually use pedometers for voluntary programs on people to study human behavior and routines.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 5:04 am and is filed under fat loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.