Are pedometers accurate for measuring distance and calories?
Pedometers don’t measure distance or calories burned accurately. They can be off by as much as 10% with distance and 30% with calories, which means the error could be half a mile if you walk five miles and 150 calories if you burn 500. They tend to overestimate distance at slower speeds, underestimate distance at faster speeds, and they’re simply not sensitive or smart enough to detect and factor in all the variables that determine how many calories you burn when you exercise. I recommend a simple pedometer that measures only steps because of these errors. Tell a salesman who wants to sell you a pedometer with all the bells and whistles that you prefer the simple one. The bells and whistles will cost you extra money for features that don’t work. How many steps should I take? The precise number of steps per day necessary for health and fitness is unknown. Ten thousand steps per day is the popular recommendation, and there is accumulating evidence that this number of steps is associated
