A pedometer can assist with accountability.

Why buy a pedometer?  Many folks will tell you you are wasting your money if you buy a fitness tracker or pedometer.  Buying one has many benefits, but are they worth the investment?  How do pedometers help me with fitness and weight loss?

Why buy a pedometer?

Pedometers are a tool for fitness, health, and weight loss.  They will not force you to get off the couch and exercise.  They are not magical.  If you need something to motivate you to get off the couch, get your significant other or pause a cattle prod.  That is not what a pedometer or fitness watch does.  

A fitness wearable such as a pedometer or watch will allow you to track your steps and use them to track your steps and motivate yourself to improve.  It is sheerly a motivational tool that will encourage you to do more.   Doctors may be more effective than the pedometer by giving walking prescriptions, but I personally include a pedometer as a part of my prescriptions to patients.  

One research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the use of pedometers​[1]​.  They found significant increases in physical activity with the use of pedometers.  They also identified significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure. The key weakness of this study is that study does not look at long-term gains.  A longer study is warranted, but this study does show an improvement in motivation and that this increase in exercise does improve health in the form of BP and weight.  

Another study showed that pedometers were a useful tool for increasing exercise in an obese female patient​[2]​.  It showed that the pedometer gave the patients goals and motivated them to walk more steps.  The patients with a pedometer averaged more steps per day than the patient either a pedometer.  

Keys to success:

1. Set a step goal
2. Walk briskly at three mph or faster
3. Buy a pedometer
4. Find a friend to compete with (peer pressure)