Monday, December 29, 2008

Pedometer Watches - What To Look For

By Ron Packardy

Pedometer watches are great, especially if you're keen on keeping track of your activity and exercise levels. If you're thinking of getting one, here are a few things to check before you buy.

1. Make sure that the pedometer watch you're looking at is accurate enough. You'll have more of a choice if you don't need high accuracy, but if you need reliable and accurate figures, your options will be a bit more limited.

2. What kind of sensor does it use? This is sort of related to the previous point because the newer technology is much more accurate. There are still pedometers about that use old technology - make sure you don't unwittingly get one of them. Look for a mention of accelerometer and you will be fine.

3. Make sure the pedometer watch can tell the difference between walking and running, and record the amount of activity for each type of exercise separately. Better pedometers check for a small duration of a particular kind of exercise before they start counting it.

4. Can you customize the pedometer? It's important that you can enter your specific body type, weight, movement style ..etc. This is essential if you're going to track distance and calorie burning with any degree of accuracy.

5. Does it have the capacity to store all the info you need? If you like to keep track of your progress over the weeks, make sure the pedometer can store that much information. There's no good getting a pedometer that can only save a weeks worth of data if you want to measure your progress over several months.

That probably covers the main technical issues, but of course you'll also want to check you're getting the best price. Don't forget to find out if there's any special deals on offer, especially around the holiday season.

Personally, I've all but stopped using a normal pedometer. It's not that there's anything really wrong with them, but I've found the convenience of a pedometer watch, especially if it comes with a normal time function, has got me well and truly hooked. I think you'll be hooked too.

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