Usage of Pedometer

Do you know how many steps you walk during a day? To an adult, it is reasonable to set a goal to walk 10,000 steps per day. Even if you are wearing a business suit, you can still easily count your steps during a day by attaching a small pedometer to your belt or waistband. Through this, you are able to learn about your activity level.

How to use a pedometer

Attach a pedometer to your belt or waistband and reset the pedometer value to 0
Try to take 20 steps at your normal pace and test whether the pedometer could read your steps accurately
If the pedometer reads 18-22 steps, it functions properly
If the value shown is incorrect, you may reposition the pedometer to repeat the test
If the pedometer persistently fails to pass the test, you may consider using another pedometer

In addition to counting steps, some pedometers can also count the total distance of the steps taken and the calories burnt. You may choose a suitable pedometer according to your own needs. To learn about your current accumulated steps per day, you may attach a pedometer for a week without changing your daily habits to test your activity level. The following table illustrates the corresponding activity levels to different ranges of steps:

Steps	Activity Levels
0 - 5,000	Sedentary
5,000 - 7,499	Low Active
7,500 - 9,999	Somewhat Active
10,000 - 12,500	Active
12,500 or above	Highly Active

For normal healthy adults, it is reasonable to set a goal of taking 10,000 steps per day. If your accumulated steps are below 10,000, you may try gradually increasing 1,000 steps every two weeks and ultimately to 10,000 steps to meet the goal.

In fact, it is not difficult to boost walking steps in our work life. For instance, you can reach your destination on foot by getting off a stop earlier from train or bus in the morning, take the stairs instead of taking lifts as much as possible, take a stroll at park after lunch, and do a lap around the office during break. All these are effective ways to accumulate more steps.