Pedometer and Walking Goals Motivate More Activity, Less Blood Pressure, Weight

Nov. 28, 2007 – An easy way to decrease your body mass index and blood pressure is to use a pedometer – especially with a daily step goal – which will motivate you to significantly increase your physical activity. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the evidence from several studies shows participants will walk about an additional mile a day.

Two studies seem to prove that aging does not necessarily mean sedentary lifestyle

Nov. 16, 2007 – Too many senior citizens assume that becoming inactive - sitting around doing not much of anything most of the time - is just what happens with getting older. Two research reports out this month seem to prove this is just not true – life can be different with changing our mindset and, the second study finds, we will live longer if we just walk a little faster. Read more...

Senior Citizens Get New Advice on Exercise from Heart Association, Sports Docs

1995 recommendations updated for seniors and younger adults

Aug. 6, 2007

Senior Citizens Improve Strength, Rejuvenate Muscle, Reverse Aging with Exercise

After training the strength of the older adults improved about 50%

May 30,2007

Growing Frail with Aging Can Be Avoided with Aerobic Exercise

Crucial muscle-building insulin response restored with a 45-minute walk

May 30, 2007

Obese, Sedentary Older Women Improve Fitness with Just a Little Activity

It just takes 72 minutes a week and you get a smaller waist, too

May 15, 2007

Some Seniors May Get Prescriptions for Exercise from Their Physician

New paper urges doctors to play role in getting patients active

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Read more on Senior Citizen Fitness & Exercise

This is the third study in November to suggest significant health improvements through walking exercise. An earlier story - see link in sidebar on left - found changing the mindset could get senior citizens into a walking program and once they are walking they significantly lower their risk of death.

"The costs associated with physical inactivity are high. For example, if 10 percent of adults in the United States began a regular walking program, an estimated $5.6 billion in heart disease costs could be saved," the authors write.

Pedometers are small, relatively inexpensive devices worn at the hip to count the number of steps walked per day. Although there is not detailed evidence of their effectiveness, they have recently experienced a surge in popularity as a tool for motivating and monitoring physical activity.

More than half of all adults in the United States do not get adequate physical activity and approximately one-quarter do not get any leisure time physical activity, according to background information in the article.

Dena M. Bravata, M.D., M.S., of Stanford University, Calif., and colleagues evaluated the association between pedometer use and physical activity and health outcomes among adults.

The authors searched databases for studies and articles on this topic, and identified 26 studies with a total of 2,767 participants that met inclusion criteria (eight randomized controlled trials [RCTs] and 18 observational studies).

The participants’ average age was 49 years and 85 percent were women. The average intervention duration was 18 weeks.

In the RCTs, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2,491 steps per day more than control participants.

Among the observational studies, pedometer users significantly increased their physical activity by 2,183 steps per day over baseline (2,000 steps is about one mile).

Overall, pedometer users increased their physical activity by 26.9 percent over baseline.

Among the intervention characteristics, having a step goal was the key predictor of increased physical activity. The three studies that did not include a step goal had no significant improvement in physical activity with pedometer use in contrast to increases of more than 2,000 steps per day with the use of a 10,000-step-per-day goal or other goal.

Intervention participants significantly decreased their body mass index by 0.38 from baseline. This reduction was associated with older age and having a step goal.

Participants also significantly decreased their systolic blood pressure by 3.8 mm Hg, which was associated with greater systolic blood pressure at baseline and change in steps per day.

"Our results suggest that the use of these small, relatively inexpensive devices is associated with significant increases in physical activity and improvements in some key health outcomes, at least in the short term. The extent to which these results are durable over the long term is unknown," the researchers write.

The report appears in the Nov. 21, 2007, issue of JAMA.


	Bob Saunders, 68, uses his Exerstrider poles for Nordic walking with a friend.

Growing Exercise of Nordic Walking Providing Senior Citizens Health, Vitality

Hybrid exercise combines walking with cross country skiing for physical, psychological benefits for aging population

July 21, 2007 - At 5’9” and 285 pounds, Bob Saunders battled high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, low energy and a host of other obesity-related symptoms. “I was dragging around, ready to call it quits,” says the 68-year-old Saunders, whose doctor warned him that his life was at risk.