I’m an avid cyclist. In the winter, I’m in spin class and as soon as the weather is nice, I’m outside racking up the mileage on my road and mountain bike. And of course I wear my pedometer on the bike. Over the years I’ve learned some tricks about using it with my pedometer that I wanted to share with all of you.

1. Prepping your pedometer: If you’re like me and your bike ride involves a pretty grueling ride and likely a lot of sweating, you’ll need to protect your pedometer. The humidity can build up in your LCD display, so I cover my pedometer with a zip lock bag and then use an elastic band to seal it off. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. At the end of a 60 km ride, excited to check out my steps, only to be viewing a blank LCD display with humidity bubbles behind it. (note: it will dry out after a day or so and continue to work just fine, but let’s avoid it in the first place).

2. Wearing your pedometer: You have a couple of options here. In order to pick up the most number of steps, it’s important to place it where you’ll have some motion. Some people place it in their sock (be sure to use the lanyard to attach to your sock), but I have the most success with it tucked inside my cycling shorts (another reason for humidity buildup and the need for protecting it). I wear it low tucked inside my shorts so it’s almost at the crease of the waist/hip point. Be sure to keep it vertical and not horizontal.

3. Aerobic steps: Aerobic steps are continuous steps taken at a minimum of 10 minutes with a 60 step/second pace. On a bike, you’re not likely to attain aerobic steps for your whole ride. This is because of periods of coasting and cadence changes. So it depends on the route you’re tackling, so don’t be surprised if your 2 hr ride doesn’t have 2 hrs of aerobic steps even though you know you’ve aerobically worked for 2 hrs. However, your steps should be fairly close to being accurate give or take a few depending on hip movement during hill climbs, coasting etc.

So if you’re looking for another way to get in your steps, I highly recommend jumping on your bike and hitting the open road or trails!

Sometimes seeing a visual really helps make something clear. Sugarstacks.com shows fantastic visuals of the amount of sugar in an item with sugar cubes. You may want to think twice before grabbing that yummy looking cinnamon roll on the way into work.

Photo credit: Sugarstacks.com

Photo credit: Sugarstacks.com

Remember to use the WalkingSpree Food Tracker to see how many steps you need to walk to burn off what you’ve consumed.

WalkingSpree is a proud supporter of National Workplace Wellness Week, April 4-10, 2010, by encouraging corporations to support their employees’ health and wellness through offering programs that promote health.

Congratulations to all of WalkingSpree’s current clients who are providing a wellness culture that is improving the health of their employees in a fun, engaging atmosphere.

History of Workplace Wellness Week

In 2008, the the U.S. House of Representatives passed a federal resolution creating National Workplace Wellness Week. The resolution, which was endorsed by the American Heart Association (AHA), Chamber of Commerce, Partnership for Prevention and many other groups, designated the first full week of April as “National Workplace Wellness Week.” During this week, private and public employers across the country are encouraged to invest in the health of their employees by creating worksite employee health promotion programs, or by sharing their worksite wellness experiences with other employers.

Contact WalkingSpree for information on how you can step up wellness and slim down costs for your employees in an engaging online wellness solution.

Don’t forget to change the time ahead an hour in your pedometer tonight.

If you are using the Omron USB Pedometer (HJ-720IT) to change the time, press SET and hold it down until the hour start to flash.

Then using the MEMO button scroll through the time until the time is correct.

Please double check that you have the correct AM and PM or your pedometer will reset at noon instead of midnight.

Then use the SET button to scroll through the minutes, weight and stride length until it is back to steps.

Happy Stepping!

WalkingSpree Team