I rec’d one for my birthday. The kind that automatically updates the distance I walk to an app on my iPhone. I found I don’t walk as far as I’d like so I’m now parking farther away from the store, etc. The next step is will be going to the Mall (while it is still so damned hot) and longer walks in the evening. If I still don’t reach my goal (5 mile a day average) I’ll start taking a walk in the morning.
What is the wisdom of the SD minions on how far a once sedimentary 63 yr old should walk every day to keep the joints limber. I’m not especially interested in cardio, just want to remain somewhat healthy.
Start slow. I’m 67 and I find that if I walk, swim or crawl as far as I once did, ALL my muscles hurt the next day. so I have to back off. When I’ve built up to a goal, I did better.
I’m 67, and the most walking I ever do is on vacations. My last two trips were to several towns in southern France. This was before my heart surgery, so I wasn’t in very good shape. I bought an excellent pedometer, and my average walking distance turned out to be 8 miles a day. One day, I reached 13 miles (it was 12.9, so I walked around the block of my hotel).
I’m 59 and do two or three half marathons a year walking. When ‘training’ for one, I try to walk 3-5 miles 3 or 4 times a week and something like 8-10 miles on the weekends. BTW: Many half marathons have a time limit of 4 hours. That’s usually good for a slow walker. 3:30 hr limits is a pretty brisk walk.
However if you have a iPhone, you really don’t need the pedometer if walking outside. You can get an app that used the phone’s GPS receiver to better track your walking. Pedometers count the number of steps and you need to calibrate it based on your stride or it will be off. The GPS is more accurate as long as you aren’t walking around tall buildings (think New Your City) of steep hills/mountains. Of course GPS doesn’t work well on inside gym tracks and the pedometer will do better there.
If it’s really fancy enough that it will update his iPhone, I doubt it is the cheap variety that need calibration. I have a Fitbit, and it figures out both steps travelled and distance, and it does so pretty accurately. It knows that some days (ie days when I run) I take fewer steps but cover more miles, and on other days (walking more) I take more steps and cover fewer miles.
