Want Automatic Exercise? Clip on a Pedometer

The jury's out on whether just walking around really counts as exercise, but I like to think it does. In fact, my whole fitness regimen depends on it. So, want to trick yourself into walking around more? All you need is a pedometer.

Simply keeping a pedometer on you will (subliminally?) convince you to walk an extra 2,000 steps a day on average, a total of about an extra mile you'd otherwise be sitting around on your butt. Setting a goal of a certain number of steps each day (10,000 is a common figure) is also a major help.

I can attest to this effect personally. Every time I've had a pedometer, from an old gadget you plugged into your phone line (I can't remember the name any more... someone help me out) to the Sony Ericsson W710i cell phone (pictured) I used for the first half of this year, I've always been obsessed with getting that "steps taken" figure as high as possible. There's just something about seeing those numbers that encourages you to want to see them climb higher. It's the same effect as trying to get a higher video game score or earning Achievements on Xbox, I suppose. Competing with yourself is just human nature.

Researchers are stunned by the news, calling the pedometer effect "remarkable" and suggesting that pedometers can be a valuable part of any program for people looking to lose weight or improve blood pressure. And while the results aren't dramatic, there's certainly no harm in encouraging people to take the stairs instead of an elevator, or walk to that restaurant instead of cabbing it.

Who'd have thought that counting was the key to getting a little extra exercise?

LINK: Pedometer users walk farther, get healthier, researchers say