What is a Pedometer?
A pedometer is basically a device that could count the steps of a particular individual. Some of these devices are electronic while some combine mechanical and electronic parts. Pedometers usually try to detect movement on the hip area while a person is walking. Some pedometers have a generic or pre-encoded stride length to measure distance traveled by a particular person, while some pedometers require a little configuration to input the stride length. Obviously, the length of each stride varies from individual to individual and so some pedometers require manual input of a person’s stride length. In this way, a more accurate distance record may be given by this small machine.

Pedometers are a basic gadget for exercise enthusiasts. It’s a great help for those who want to track their progress in terms of steps taken or distance traveled. Most basic pedometers can only provide the number of steps and the distance traveled. More advanced pedometers though have some more features. One such feature is “calorie estimate”. This feature gives the user a record or estimate of the total calories burned for every walking or jogging routine. This is a great added feature for pedometers since some people gauge their exercise or walking routine to the number of calories burned instead of the number of steps or distance traveled.

Another added feature in newer and more advanced pedometers is the “pulse rate meter”. Again this is a great feature for exercise enthusiasts since pulse rate indicates the workload of a particular walking or jogging activity. Workload is important since it involves how much of the heart is “exercised” through walking or jogging. For an exercise to be effective, especially to those who want to burn more calories and lose some weight, one must achieve a certain heart or pulse rate to be able to achieve what is desired. And with pulse rate features on the pedometer, one can properly monitor his/her exercise activity.