Summary: Cool gadget. Coolest pedometer that I've owned. Wearing it will make you think more about health. Plus it's fun to see how many steps things are away from other things.
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I recently bought this device for about $13 at my local Kaiser pharmacy. It is a very cool device, definitely the coolest pedometer that I have ever owned. It keeps track of various numbers for the last 7 days: number of steps, how many of the steps could be considered moderate exercise, how much time was spent in moderate exercise, the total distance travelled, and the number of kilocalories burned. It's rugged, I've dropped it a few times from my belt without it being hurt. Somehow it seems pretty good at not counting the motion of riding a motorcycle or being in a car. It comes with a 23 page instruction manual. According to the instructions:
The pedometer comes with one CR2032 battery installed. |
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Pages 4&5 of the manual are "Safety Information". Important tips like:
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They forgot a few of my suggestions:
- Do not use while climbing on ladders
- This is not considered a hands free device and may be illegal to use while driving in some jurisdictions.
- Not approved as a distance measuring device for the construction of skyscrapers.
- Keep out of children (as seen on a box of knives)
- Do not attempt to eat the device, device is not designed to record walking distance from within the stomach.
- Wearing device as an earing may cause inaccurate recording of distance walked
- Use as a hockey puck will void the warrantee
- Blog about how cool your new pedometer is.
Page 6 is devoted to impressive pictures of the front of the unit, showing the MODE button, which selects between the different reading displays of the device, and the MEMO button, which pages through the last several days of memory for whatever reading is displayed. Then a high quality illustration of the back of the device tells you where to find the set button, the reset button, and the two battery cover screws, along with the clip/battery cover.
According to page 7 of the manual,
 | Moderate intensity activity is defined as 3.0 to 6.0 METs by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). (Isn't MET a kind of beer? The unit automatically determines if the pace is a(sic) moderate or brisk by minute. |
Cool, it has a blinking "moderate" indicator after the first minute is completed. Oh, and a handy definition:
 | Definition of MET METs represents the ratio of exercise to metabolic rate. One MET is defined as the energy expenditure at resting condition, which, for an average adult, is approximately 3.5 ml of oxygen intake per kilogram (2.2 lb) of body weight per minute. |
(Um, excuse me Mr. Pedometer Tech Writer: If you're weightless in space does that mean you aren't using any oxygen? If so, why do they need to have air in space suits, and make those funny heavy breathing sounds into their spacesuit microphone when they are on weightless space walks? Aren't kilograms a measure of mass, and not weight? I always read that pounds are a measure of weight, but kilograms are a measure of mass.)
More helpful tips:
| ACSM and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (what a duo, and when did they get the "and Prevention" added on, they then be the CDCP?) physical activity recommendation for adults is at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity 5 or more days per week. Moderate to brisk walking at approximately 3.0 to 4.5 mph (may differ in individuals) is one of the most popular activities to meet this recommendation.
Note: Walking up r down stairs or a steep slope, and walking on treadmill may not be counted as moderate steps. |
The system is smart enough to calculate distance walked by height and walking pace, and calories burned by height, weight and activity level while walking.
Setting up the device involves:
- Pressing the reset button
- Entering the time by pressing the set button and the memo (up) or mode (down) buttons.
- Then entering your weight using the same buttons
- then entering your height in inches and feet.
It suggests placing the unit on the belt or top of waistband.
Page 12 has another warning:
| Do not place the unit in the back pocket of your pants. (Relativistic effects will cause the device to record inaccurate distances when running at close to the speed of light.) |
The unit must be position horizontally with the ground. Then they show an X over the belt buckle. I guess they meant to also say the unit should be perpendicular to the direction of travel, but the tech writer, and or his audience, might not know that word....
The unit only counts steps when you are walking continuously. It has a four second delay before recording steps, but it does add in the steps detected during those four seconds.
Page 13 has a list of five conditions when the unit might not count steps properly.
- When it is in an incorrect position, more than 60 degrees titled from vertical
- Inconsistent walking pace (such as happens in crowded places, or at exhibitions, or on trains or subways, or at the amusement park while standing in lines)
- Irregular unit movement (Next to a picture of a tennis player using the pedometer as a tennis ball)
- Vibrations from a moving vehicle - (They include bicycles, automobiles, trains, and buses. What about airplanes? While skydiving? Helicopters? Their QA department has a lot of work still to do...)
- Extremely slow walking (That could unfairly discriminate against people with disabilities.)
Hmmm... Wonder how it would work while on the rides at the amusement park? The lawyers don't say....
The power saving blanks the screen after 5 minutes without any button presses.
Other facts from the specifications:
- Battery life is predicted at one year when the unit is used for walking at 10,000 steps a day.
- Weight is 1 1/4 ounce, including the battery
- +/- 90 seconds of deviation in the time, each month Wow!
- Setting ranges
- Weight 70 - 300 lbs
- Height 3'4" to 6'6"
- Measurement ranges:
- 99,999 steps
- up to 1440 minutes for moderate exercise
- 99,999 kcal
- Distance 999.99 miles
- Precision of step counting +/- 5%
- UPC 0 73796 80151 9
- Toll free 1-800-634-4350
- http://www.omronhealthcare.com
My Numbers
| Total | Modernate | Moderate | kcal | Miles | Meals | Weight | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steps | Steps | Time | |||||
| 8/12/08 | 4257 | 435 | 4 mins | 203 kcal | 1.68 | Breakfast burrito, two pears, snickers bar | 241 lbs |
| 8/11/08 | 11196 | 3378 | 31 min | 565 kcal | 4.55 | two bowls for breakfast, bowl of beans, tofu stir fry for lunch, potato curry with rice, medium bag of theatre popcorn | |
| 8/10/08 | 3579 | 312 | 3 mins | 162 kcal | 1.46 mi. | Salmon sandwich, bowl of cereal, Fresh Choice | |
| 8/9/08 | 4392 | 316 | 3 mins | 197kcal | 1.75 mi. | 2 bowls of cereal, church potluck, popcorn, salmon sandwich | |
| 8/8/08 | 1378 | 0 | 0 mins | 63kcal | 0.55 | ||
| 8/7/08 | 548 | 0 | 0 mins | 20kcal | 0.21 miles | ||
| 8/6/08 | 7645 | 1816 | 17 mins | 384 kcal | 3.10 mi. | ||
| 8/5/08 | 4759 | 1284 | 12 mins | 248 kcal | 1.95 mi. | ||
| 8/4/08 | 6474 | 738 | 7 min | 329 kcal | 2.63 mi. | ||
| 8/3/08 | 2987 | 550 | 5 min | 142 kcal | 1.27 mi. | 241 lbs |
Distance walked as a colporteur, selling religious books:
| Total | Modernate | Moderate | kcal | Miles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steps | Steps | Time | |||
| 8/11/08 | 5036 | 1394 | 13 mins | 266 kcal | 2.09 mi. |