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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • All the news that's green 4/22/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Pedometers can help boost exercise motivation By Dr. Elizabeth Smoots Herald Columnist What's your excuse? Too busy, too tired or too bored? Lousy weather or a bad day? There are literally dozens of excuse not to exercise. As a result, many of us are quite sedentary. With the current status quo, more than half of U.S. adults do not get adequate exercise, and a quarter doesn't get any leisure-time activity at all. But the latest research highlights a simple and efficient way to increase exercise motivation. It's called a pedometer. You can wear the tiny electronic gadget at your waist to measure the movement of your hips. It counts the number of steps you take over the course of a day. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that pedometers can improve health by getting people to move more. The research, the first of its kind, analyzed 2,700 adults involved in 26 different studies. At baseline, most participants were inactive and obese, and had normal blood pressures. I recently attended a conference where the study's lead researcher, Dr. Dena Bravata, made these points about pedometers: @1. Body Copy Bold Lede-in Name:The devices increase physical activity. At the end of the intervention, pedometer users had increased their activity about 2,500 steps per day more than the control participants. Taking 2,000 steps is equivalent to walking about a mile, and burns about 100 calories. Overall, those using pedometers increased their activity 27 percent above baseline. @1. Body Copy Bold Lede-in Name:They can help people lose weight. Pedometer users lowered their body mass index by about 0.38. BMI is a measure of body fat that utilizes a person's height and weight. On average, the BMI reduction in the study was enough to move participants from the obese category into the overweight category. How does a pedometer lead to weight loss? It may make you more aware of your total health behaviors. "In addition to motivating you to take the stairs rather than the elevator, it might also make you think twice about eating that extra cookie," Bravata said. @1. Body Copy Bold Lede-in Name:Pedometers help lower blood pressure. Researchers observed a decreased systolic blood pressure of about four millimeters of mercury among pedometer users. Systolic is the upper number in a blood pressure reading. "This is really a remarkable finding," Bravata said. "The participants in our study did not have very high blood pressure to begin with." Other studies have shown that reducing systolic blood pressure by two millimeters of mercury is associated with a 10 percent decrease in stroke death among middle-aged people, and a 7 percent decrease in cardiovascular death. @1. Body Copy Bold Lede-in Name:It helps to record your results in a step diary. People who note down their progress along with their reactions and feelings have greater improvements in physical activity, the researchers found. It's essential to set a step goal. Pedometer users in the study who had a goal increased their physical activity. In contrast, pedometers users without a goal showed no increase in activity. "I think that makes intuitive sense," Bravata said, "because if you get a pedometer and put it on and at the end of the day find that you walked a certain amount -- 4,000 or 5,000 steps or whatever -- without a goal, you may not have any idea if that's too little or too much or just the right amount of activity." For good health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a goal of 10,000 steps each day. If you're unaccustomed to exercise, have your doctor help you set a personal step goal. Then gradually increase your activity level. For more information: American Heart Association, www.americanheart.org. Contact Dr. Elizabeth Smoots, a board-certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, at doctor@practicalprevention.com. Her columns are not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Before adhering to any recommendations in this column consult your health care provider. © 2008 Elizabeth S. Smoots

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