Reply With QuoteSome smartphones and the newest iPod nano have this. I know, not exactly £20, but if you have one of those lying around...
I have a permanent lower back problem and the best exercise for me is walking. As luck would have it, I have some very pleasant walks nearby, and with the New Forest on my doorstep (well, a couple of miles away) I'm spoilt for choice.
However, I would like to keep track of how far I'm walking and set myself targets in order to give myself some meaningful weekly or monthly objectives, so I'm looking for a pedometer which will record distance covered as well as number of steps.
Nothing stupidly expensive - I'm setting the bar at £20-£25. Can anybody recommend something?
Thanks
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
Some smartphones and the newest iPod nano have this. I know, not exactly £20, but if you have one of those lying around...
Two I have used are an old Hi-Tek from Millets (surprisingly accurate) and about £7 and an Omron Walking Style One at about £12 from Amazon. The Omron is great if you are after very basic info, it is easy to read and keeps cumulative totals by day. On all of them setting the stride length is key so take a bit of time to get that right - I used a mapping programme called geodistance to ascertain an accurate distance over some flat terrain and then counted the steps at a brisk walk and worked out an average stride length from that (I was aiming for 90 miles of walking a week so total distance was fairly important).
The cheap and nasty looking Hi-Tek was actually very good and far more customisable but not as easy to read. You can end up spending quite a bit but some of the basic ones are sufficient for your needs, the two I mentioned worked well for me and I would recommend considering them.
There are smartphone apps (iOS and Android) that are free/very cheap - I'd check those out first.
I know you set your budget at the £25 level but I've been very happy with my Fitbit Ultra I bought from Amazon a couple of months ago. It has helped to get me motivated and so far I've lost 15lbs and reached my target weight. I now have to maintain it.
the new Nike fuel band comes out May 1st I think. will be over budget but might be worth investigating and perhaps waiting for...
If you already or someone in family owns a Nintendo DS then this is really good:
£10-15 now
Nothing groundbreaking but it tells you how many and how quickly etc. It can get pretty competative too!
My tracks on android will tell you distance and elevation
As if further confirmation was needed as to what an exceptional place this is, a very generous member has contacted me and offered to send me his spare pedometer.
Many thanks, Chris. You're a star!
Regards
Ian
Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.
If you've a smart phone then check out the free app called MapMyWalk - no pedometer but it does use GPS to track you're walk via google maps and then gives stats on speed and calories alongside the route you took, elevation etc. You can then record training walks and chart your progess against them and share routes with other users etc via their website.
If you're getting into country walking then perhaps check out Geocaching too - not something I've done yet but on the list of things to check out now I'm getting into regular walking to help with weight control and back issues.
another vote of support for the free ones on the iPhone...
I bought a pedometer it bleeped when Gary Glitter came on the radio
If you have an iPhone try the FootSteps app. It was reviewed on the Gadget Show and was 98% accurate (more than most very expensive clip on pedometers). I've used it and found it to be accurate too (once it's set up properly). It also produces a handy chart and other statistics.
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