Pedals and Pedometer Steps’ posts have concentrated on walking and pedometer steps specifically, although the “pedals” part is important as well. It just doesn’t fit that well in a pedometer steps blog, as you probably realize, because a bike doesn’t register on a pedometer that well.
The video above from Trey Zepeda contains some good walking and cycling tips using a treadmill and exercise cycle. These are great workout options and starting with these 2 pieces of equipment makes for variety and good cardio.
Using a ‘real’ bike had been an ambition for me over many years. I’m probably one of the few who didn’t learn to ride as a kid and although I have ridden occasionally as an adult, it has never ‘taken’. It does seem to be a great way to exercise and it seems to me that bike riders are rarely overweight.
As with walking it is not my ambition to join a bike club but to add to the variety of my exercise routine in a way which is fun, with lots of options to built cycling into my lifestyle. The fact that biking can be social is also a factor however this is not its main attraction.
Pedometer steps is my favorite way to walk for weight loss because it becomes easy to amalgamate within your life. It can be an enjoyable and effective lifestyle, has travel options and contributes to the other daily tasks. Cycling doesn’t have quite the flexibility of pedometer steps to fit into your daily life unless you ride to work, go to school or shop, visit neighbors or the dry cleaners on your bike.
However the combination of the two seems to cover some very good exercise options for an outdoor lifestyle and of course the indoor options are also good for the times that outdoors is not your venue of choice. With these indoor options for cycling there is no necessity to have any bike riding skill so these are immediately accessible for the beginner as well.
In the long term as I restructure my lifestyle to maintain rather than lose weight, I anticipate making cycling one of my main weight maintenance activities.
I am not abandoning pedometer steps as my weight loss option as, compared to walking for weight loss, taking up cycling in the outdoors, requires much more involvement from me than walking. Walking doesn’t require special skills, equipment, proper tracks, skill or training, etc. The gym options are good and spin classes excel for weight loss and fitness.
I’m looking forward to taking up cycling. Who knows it may be just ’round the corner,
Where you are, compared to other participants depends upon where your walking fitness training starts, and like other things in life, it has a tendency to repeat or cycle back at a different level i.e. spiral.
The number of pedometer steps to target for you is dependent upon several factors. This is why Pedals & Pedometer Steps generally recommends you wear a pedometer for several days prior to entering a fitness program. Doing this ensures you know what is the real starting point. Average pedometer steps are often taken to be 3000 steps in 30 minutes as a recommended walk. A taller, fitter person, walking on a pathway will probably number more steps in the same time. By noting your pedometer steps results each night over 3-5 consecutive days, totalling them and them finding the average, you will have your personal ‘level’.
For someone who has not exercised in some time this starting point may be disappointing. Pedometer steps increase rapidly though. Just watch and enjoy as the numbers keep on going up. Finding your level, starting at your level, is not failure in advance. It sets you up to rocket up the results chart. Success breeds confidence a major factor in exercise and weight loss.
Just in case you’re wondering-doesn’t confidence breed disrespect i.e. now I’m so wonderful I don’t need good health or to lose weight?
Confidence helps you to reach your goals. It enables you to stretch your efforts beyond what you would have done. This can be called over-confidence but unless you have made a ridiculous commitment, it is not, it is finding your limits. Again this allows you to position yourself in such a way as to make the changes necessary to achieve and again make rapid progress, towards your unchanged goal.
Over my lifetime I had a tendency to see any ‘failure’ when trying for bigger and better results, as a sentence: The end. When I attempted smaller and better though, I found the results were like rungs of a ladder. Easy to climb to the top!
At Pedals & Pedometer Steps we support a feel good approach to walking for weight loss. Knowing that a holiday and lots of chocolate are on the menu how to get the best on both fronts?
Planning!
Are you up for it? My planning started before today but it’s not too late. Decide how to fit both activity and moderate Easter indulgences into the weekend. The ideal starting point: you’ve been eating less and walking, shopping, cleaning house a lot, in anticipation of events to come. Clothes are looser as a result.
To come out of it better off than today, use the Pedometer Steps way. Some tips for a Happy Easter!
Easter eggs- plan to give away most of them! Keep only dark chocolate eggs and plain bars. Avoid the filled, milk chocolate and elaborate. Make yourself new friends at work or church by ‘donating’ them to morning tea, or give to your grandkids, but preferably people outside your house.
At your home, if you have visitors over Easter, plan to substantially change the emphasis. Make alternate gifts or treasure hunts for the children- perhaps bunny rabbits stuffed toys.
Think differently about the food. In most families there are many ’special’ needs. While it is difficult to anticipate every dietary need, it is possible to make some foods optional. For instance, have fruit for the table after the meal, not cheese and biscuits.
Pretend this Easter is one which you want to be a celebration and at the same time be appropriate for a health check up the next day! I am doing this- the amount of food to be eaten by anyone is up to them, it is self selection or buffet style. My brother had a work health check the day after a visit once and it was amazing the changes that could be made without lessening the enjoyment.
Provide activity options other than television and eating or drinking. It becomes easy to eat less, and be less affected by what you eat when there is the Wii or walking, and cleaning up the kitchen to do.
If any of this is unattractive for your idea of Easter then start preparing now for next Easter. A major part of the ‘battle’ is your thoughts. Decide that you want to change the way you enjoy Easter. Wear your pedometer, count pedometer steps, find ways to add more steps into your day, walk somewhere you wouldn’t normally if you can, etc. Create Easter your way. Change your idea of what is fun.
Hoping for a healthy, happy Easter & good news after,
Hi to all of the Pedals & Pedometer Steps readers who are signing up for The New! Walker, the first issue is ready to go. I want it to be good so apologies for the delays but the button will be pushed soon.
I am returning to an ongoing topic of interest-what to do if you are injury prone or just want to get the best out of counting pedometer steps.
Normal bodily wear and tear is no reason for alarm. If you are someone who has been a couch potato for some time e.g. regularly looking for ways to avoid walking or hurting something by turning over in bed, then pretend that discomfort is your friend, and is really pointing to the need for preliminary checks before taking your vehicle on a long drive over many days.
Yep, zero to 100 mph is not likely for your “vehicle” which I’m sure you realize is meant to symbolize the equivalent type of ‘tune up’ required for your body.
More seriously, using pedometer steps is so good because it enables you to gradually increase your exertion so your body adjusts to these changed expectations in a comfortable manner. Muscles, tendons and joints can acclimatize to unusual (for them) extensions and contractions, given the correct encouragement.
Sudden movements, sudden load increases, sudden climate change-all ’shock’ the system. This can have a ‘wake up’ effect, and certainly the effort required by the body to cope means many calories burned, but it is ultimately not for the best.
Your body’s muscles have rested for a long time (if this is the case) and need preparation, and that preparing enables you to build up the muscle strength. Once released, with the strength to do it, the result is phenomenal.
Use a pedometer and count pedometer steps for the best results.
On the other hand it may be that over time you have allowed small encroachments into your well being without attending to them. They have just not seemed to be worth doing anything about. ‘It comes with age’ is a favorite excuse. Maybe there are technological or medical answers but you haven’t looked or persevered with the options. Do what you can, seek answers, and know that feeling good about your body helps a lot. High expectations for short term results is a pressure cooker environment to which most of us do not respond well.
If twenty years of putting on weight, something wrong with your feet, wonky ankles, etc., have stopped you exercising then be prepared for the long haul of working through these issues. While you do that, finding alternate ways of feeling good about the changes you’re making will help. In other words, find a way of enjoying the new way whether or not your weight changes. There is less tension involved and less need to give it all up if you don’t lose weight in the short term.
What do I mean?
Learn to love aspects of the new diet, or food, or paths you are walking. Find advantages in what you are doing even if initially it seems like failure. The old adage that success is on the other end of failure is always true. Oprah wasn’t Oprah from day one. You only have to look at old tapes to see that.
Pedometer steps counting is truly a feature of the modern age. Walking itself as a leisure activity or necessary means of transport has been with us forever.
As with technology of other sorts the pedometer is a means of increasing our satisfaction with the ongoing process of walking for health (weight loss in particular) or fitness (training). Logging pedometer steps whether online or in a journal is part of the self interest movement of the last 20 years. We are more engaged with a process when it not only relates to, but includes, us. On the one hand it acknowledges that “we” make a difference, at least to our own results. On the other hand it streamlines the process to fit like a glove.
The weight loss dream has far too many components for easy assessment. We all know the nightmare of the scales and its lackluster performance as a guide. For some twenty years have gone by without the right combination of the stars and good fortune. Well the time is now. Never have we lived in such a choice- full, abundant society where many more suffer the diseases of excess than lack. Over whelm when it comes to finding the ‘right’ weight loss program is more likely to be the difficulty. Copying someone else’s successful process can have limited success for weight loss in the short term but for longer lifestyle choices then the changes must be one’s you choose.
The New Walker will be my new walking for weight loss e-letter. It is a combination of news and anecdote, thoughts, questions and answers and philosophy of life. Pedometer steps are my favorite way to get someone hooked on the new wonder ‘drug’ of exercise and activity as an anti-depressant, stress relief, mental and creative stimulant and mood enhancer. This is not to mention the other feel good benefits to the body and disposition.
One of my ‘new’ discoveries has been the benefits of walking after eating a meal. In the books of the 1800s and early 1900s, it was often mentioned that the family but particularly the head of the household would go for an evening walk after the meal. It aids digestion and generally makes me feel good by adding pedometer steps. If for some reason (!) you have eaten too much it also is one way of lessening any guilt and even reducing the effects of any excess calories.
The new walker does have most of the characteristics of the old except that the deliberate introduction of activity into a lifestyle previously devoid of much exercise from necessity, is different, because to exercise or not is now a choice.
Pedometer Steps and Walking to Lose Weight are my favorite blogs to write as the benefits of walking have helped me feel good every day. Am I claiming a happy ever after scenario? I am claiming the processes and tools to being happy every day in a healthy and loving work, home and family environment. The process requires implementing, adapting and using those tools with as much enthusiasm as possible. The New Walker is one way to get some input into your new lifestyle in a comfortable manner.
Please sign up for the FREE e-letter, The New Walker, in the column on the right if you’re open to making changes over time which will enhance your life, give you confidence and the desire to live your life lovingly,
Intensifying your workout with pedometer steps is easy.
The benefit of doing high intensity exercises is that it increases the calorie burn and this is the attraction of the more extreme exercise sessions that dominate weight loss exercise since TV’s The Biggest Loser has become so popular. Calories burned must be greater than calories consumed for the weight loss to begin. The higher the calories burned the more weight lost.
In light of my last post where I point out that for weight loss to be effective over the long term i.e. the results last, the every day for a lifetime approach is more likely successful than a cramming effort reminiscent of school exams.
Having said that I do not mean that pedometer steps is limited to low intensity calorie burn spread out daily. There is a lot of positive effect in the strategic use of high intensity exercise.
For most people continued active living results in effective ongoing weight management after weight loss, therefore this needs to be established as a normal routine in your life. For this to happen it requires a consistent process done often enough to become a pleasure and desirable activity.
When enthusiasm for the desired results (quick weight loss) over rides ignorance about the level of activity then failure can often result. If you are not normally active then taking on exercise without finding your limits first can cause overload and giving up.
Measured use, and enjoyment of high intensity exercise, is a great way to stay in shape and increase the variety and options in addition to pedometer steps counting.
If you do want to try some fancy high energy program then:
1. prepare for it-find out what physical stressors are likely, and build up stamina, particular muscles to be used, and prepare by training in these areas.
2. alternatively take the class or do the event at a slow pace, gradually increasing until your fitness reaches the desired level i.e. over several sessions.
3. add high intensity to your pedometer steps by- walking hills; carrying weights (groceries in either hands are good); walking faster in sections by taking smaller steps more quickly (do not lengthen your stride); walk longer; add stairs; carry a child!
Many more options exist to make pedometer steps and other exercise a delightful, varied, favorite activity in a healthy lifestyle.
Counting pedometer steps means making sure the typical life changes we all experience don’t interfere with our intention to make this our best weight loss routine. Every life has ups and downs and pedometer steps can be part of that life no matter what!
A successful strategy for integrating life’s changes such as moving house or job, extra responsibility at work or home, is to prepare for the change in advance. I liken this option to a child attending pre-school, to learn the skills he will need at big school but which aren’t taught at school. It is better to allow a gradual understanding of what works best to come through experience of similar conditions. Adaptation is one of the better human skills. Overwhelm doesn’t help if it results in giving up or struggling but putting a toe into the water to get a feel for what is coming helps a lot.
Using a pedometer is easy. Walking is easy. Making the time to do it is generally most people’s challenge. So plan it into your day as much as possible. When moving make sure that walking paths and beautiful environments are in your new area. It is really good to have shops and cafes within walking distance of work or home. When traveling these are also options to consider-stay within a reasonable walking distance of your venue if attending a conference, or include walking opportunities if it is a holiday; dance if at a wedding.
These are changes that can be made over time but will pay off as weight loss and well being become an accepted part of your daily life. Eventually once a routine of pedometer steps is fully integrated the pedometer itself becomes less important. Activity has become a habit.
Walking for weight loss and other activity burns calories. Be sensible about eating and your body will look after the rest.
Today I want to go over the importance of pedometer steps in my life. It could be important for you too.
This is what happens for me by using the 10,000+ pedometer steps a day exercise strategy:
1. First thing in the morning upon waking I see the pedometer on the bedside table and as soon as I am dressed I put it on. This ensures I am aware that during today I want to achieve at least 10,000 steps.
2. I quickly review my options for adding walking into the day’s program.
3.I know that if I keep an eye on my pedometer steps tally at regular intervals I can make decisions easily which are better than I might otherwise make.
4. I do have options during most days which I sometimes don’t see. I always do such and such at lunch or a friend likes to do X and I do it with her. Today though that friend might have an errand to run, say pick up the dry cleaning and I say I’ll meet her there, and I will walk.
5. Dead time becomes your friend- waiting drives most of us crazy but many times I can substitute waiting with walking time. Say I’m at the doctors and he’s running late-I tell the nurse that I’ll be outside walking (within earshot) and to give me a holler when it’s time.
Pedometer walking has some advantages over adding distinct walking periods say 30 minutes once a day. Doing 10,000 steps is probably about 5 miles walking on average. Your 30 minute walk is say 2.5 miles. What are you doing for the rest of the day? For many of us adding the 30 minutes initially is a great boost for weight loss and fitness but if you compensate by less activity at other times or, as is normal, your body adjusts to the exercise, then before long you’re not doing enough for weight loss or fitness.
Once your body adjusts to 10,000+ steps daily (on average) this activity level burns enough calories to balance normal eating and therefore maintain weight. Prior to this modified eating levels i.e. removing obvious high calorie foods or drinks and limiting calories consumed in a day, means less calories consumed (eaten) than expended (exercise) and weight is lost.
Treadmill running or walking rarely includes pedometer steps counting and so the iPhone app for use with a treadmill is a boon for those who like to do pedometer running and walking on a treadmill. Of course your existing pedometer will also do for this but as we all seem to love the iPhone gadgetry it seems opportune to talk about the specific treadmill application. The video above gives a great explanation of all the features.
It is a reminder that many recent technical updates of familiar electronic games (iPod) and essentials (watches and iPhone) now include a pedometer so there is no excuse for avoiding counting pedometer steps daily.
Have you considered combining two of the world’s most popular forms of stress relief- walking and meditation?
As you’re reading Pedals and Pedometer Steps your main interest in walking may be for fitness and weight loss. Also as you’ve developed your regular walking you may well have noticed yourself feeling better generally.
If you are having difficulty fitting everything into your life and you meditate you can have the best of both world’s with a walking meditation. The video below demonstrates the sort of attention one needs to pay to details.
A major part of my pedometer steps progress has come from combining the activities necessary to get the steps’ target and also to act as a release valve for stress and frustration.
Walking in itself is a wonderful way to divert the mind of frustration and release a feeling of well being. Each step enables us to concentrate on where we are physically, noticing details of our surroundings in positive ways.
The major difference between a Pedometer Steps’ Meditation and the Zen version above is that you will have your pedometer strapped on and be walking with intention to exercise your body at the same time as you rest your mind.
Start Walking, Get Running, and Lose Weightis filled with common sense strategies for managing the food you eat and simple but very effective exercise plans that ease you into shape.
A Proven Walking or Running Plan For All Ages and Experience Levels...
