Someone asked me how I get so many steps in, because she said she walked for hours every day but only got around 8,000 steps. She asked me to post the answer here. So I told her that it’s not about how long she walked but rather how many steps she actually took…for example, I can walk a little over 2000 steps in 12 minutes, which is also a mile. It took her over a half hour to walk the same number of steps. So this was why even though she spent hours on her feet, it didn’t translate into the same number of steps I take…because she didn’t walk the same number of steps in the same amount of time.

I also suggested that she make sure her pedometer was working right and placed right on her clothes. This is important because if you place it wrong, it won’t record your steps right. Every pedometer I have had says to place it on the waist band, like where a belt would be, but instructions vary. You also need to make sure you have calibrated your pedometer to record your stride. For example, a 6 ft tall person has a longer stride than a 5 ft tall person. Follow the instructions that come with the pedometer to make sure you are using it properly and have set it right.

You can also double-check yourself by establishing how many steps it takes you to walk 1 mile. Go to a track or a gym where you know the mileage has been properly set-up. Put on your pedometer. Walk 1 mile. then record how long it took you and how many steps it took you. Do this at least 5 times, varying the days and times of days. You should then have 5 very similar times and number of steps recorded. You now have an accurate idea of how long it takes you to walk 1 mile, for example it may take you 2,100 steps to walk one mile. So say the next day you walk one mile at the track or gym and your pedometer only says 900 steps, you know it is off and you need to either adjust it’s placement or re-calibrate it.

Knowing the time (how long it takes you to walk 1 mile) is also helpful because it stops you from cheating yourself. If it normally takes you 20 minutes to walk a mile, you can’t tell yourself your pedometer is wrong because you feel you walked a mile running around your house, when you only actually did 10 minutes of going back and forth.

Oh yeah, it is also best to get out your house and walk. I used to put my pedometer on first thing as soon as I got dressed and counted every single step, because I needed that, but now I only wear it when I am actually out going for my walks or at the Y on the treadmill. Here’s a cool site I use to change up my walks now and then, and it helps me to break up my walks in manageable 1-2 mile chunks:
http://www.mapmyrun.com

if for whatever reason you can’t go out and walk or go to a track or gym, march in place in front of your TV. But make a real effort to establish for yourself how many steps it takes you to walk 1 mile, and how long it takes you, so that you don’t cheat yourself when walking indoors or elsewhere. You can do it!

P.S at my pace I put in 60-90 minutes a day walking depending on if I’m doing 10,000 steps or 12,0000 and at what speed. Some days are a little slower/faster than others. I generally don’t do my steps all at once but in 12-minute to 30-minute increments.

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