Working With The Pedometer

By Josh Proten

It is not often that people hear something about pedometers and therefore it is not inconceivable that people who have heard of those devices can't say for sure what they are used for or how they work. Pedometers, which are also referred to as stepometers, just measure the distance traveled by the person wearing it and that regardless of whether they are walking or running. The distance measured is based on the movements of the hips, but before a conversion can be made the length of a stride has to be entered. For women that is on average 2.2 feet and for men around 2.5 feet.

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.

The next question to answer would be who uses a pedometer and one group who makes use of this device is doctors. This enables them to collect information on their patients, such as to assess how much effort a patient is putting into their daily exercise. Such information is important and even more so if the patient needs to start a regular exercise program because of health reasons. Pedometers with advanced technology are even able to take the information collected on the patients and post it directly to an online server and that allows the doctor to easily monitor the progress a patient is making.

A pedometer can also just be used by those wanting to exercise and who want to make their routing more effective. Using this device enables the person to keep track of the exercise program. Knowing about it lets the person to set goals that are realistic and which are based on personal thresholds.

Pedometers can also be used to collect data for research, because they now are part of some GPS and GPRS capable devices which enable data to be posted online. There a few medical research companies that use pedometers to aid with studies on human behavior and their routines. This is usually a voluntary program and people can choose to participate or not.

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