One way to make "cheap" pedometers more accurate

People who choose walking as part of their New Year's resolution to "get more exercise" quickly discover that pedometers are a hassle. The "affordable" models are too sensitive, counting too many steps and failing to give an accurate count of paces or distance. They get frustrated and stop exercising, with justifications like "Why should I bother walking when I can't tell how many steps I've taken, how far I've walked, or how many calories I've burned?"

Here's a tip that might help. Most people wear their pedometers on the waistband of their workout shorts/pants. This doesn't work-- the motion switches in the pedometers get too much vibration there and will frequently register more than one step for each step taken.

Instead, try clipping the pedometer to the collar of your shirt. This decreases the amount of extra vibration that reaches the pedometer, making it less likely to register extra steps. An extra benefit to this approach-- having the pedometer that close to your ear-- means you will be able to hear the motion switch in the pedometer as you walk, allowing you to verify that it is counting the steps you are taking properly.

I hope you found this tip useful, and may it make your walking workout routine more enjoyable.