The vast majority of us detest the thought of exercise – yet we all want to be in better shape. Not exercising regularly can result in weight gain and resulting health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

When you get that feeling that it might be time to start exercising again or regularly you consider the options – perhaps a gym membership, a piece of fitness equipment for the home, or taking up a new physical hobby. Beginning a workout program doesn’t have to be costly or difficult though. In fact, starting a new program is the easy part, sticking to it is where the difficultly arrives.

Overall the easiest way to get more exercise without the expense is to increase your walking. Again, easy to say you’ll do it but without a walking partner or a plan it may all fall by the wayside until your doctor notices health complications due to obesity. Don’t let it get that far! You can do this now and a simple pedometer can be accountability partner – keeping you on track, moving forward and increasing your steps on a daily basis.

A pedometer can be purchased with a variety of different features. Some are designed primarily for the walking or jogging group of fitness-minded people. Others are designed for cardio workouts. A pedometer will come in ranges from the very simple, basic pedometer (a step counter) to the more sophisticated model that has a range of other functions. The most well received ‘extra’ in the world of pedometer upgrades in the last 10 years has been those with the ability to transfer statistics directly to your personal computer through your USB port.

Aside from all the bells and whistles of the more advanced models, a pedometer helps you reach your goal to become more fit and perhaps to lose some weight.

A pedometer is a gadget to help you track the number of steps you take. By targeting a realistic daily step rate you will walk more and as a result increase your fitness and lose weight. Trials have shown that wearing a pedometer is helpful in increasing the number of calories burned. 26 studies, reviewed in the Journal of American Medicine, showed that the use of a pedometer was effective in increasing how much participants walked every day. A typical study concluded that step rates were increased by around 2000 steps compared to participants not using a pedometer. Two thousand steps is roughly equivalent to an extra mile walked each day and a 25% increase in activity. This is a considerable difference and would have a major influence on the participants health and weight.

An important consideration to to remember is to set reasonable goals. Setting a step target every day was shown to have a major effect on the amount of physical activity achieved. Those participants who managed to keep up their target showed a marked increase in activity and benefited more by showing increases in fitness which included a reduction in weight and blood pressure. On the other hand cholesterol and blood sugar levels seem to be unchanged.

The use of a pedometer can be a huge help in increasing the level of physical activity without having to join a gym. By making daily increases in the number of steps you take you will reap the rewards of a healthy weight and improved fitness levels. A simple pedometer is the easy way to monitor these benefits, get yours today.