You know that pedometers have ‘arrived’ when they’re 
included in the goodie bags at the Oscars and also featured on Oprah.
At Speakwell we have watched our sales of pedometers double, double again and then double again as individuals and organizations realize the health benefits of walking and the motivational impact of pedometers on adherence to walking programs. I see my pedometer as the odometer of my life, but unlike the odometer in my car, the higher the number on my personal odometer the better shape I’m in, and the longer I’m likely to last.
To reaffirm the value of walking I will begin by quoting from the Cleveland Clinic’s Health Extra, a supplement published by the well-known hospital and research centre.
The health benefits of walking are astonishing. They begin with stress reduction and include a reduction in the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, and breast or colon cancer. Some experts say walking relieves constipation and cures impotence. At the very least, it makes you stronger, better looking and — best of all — more aerobically fit.
The downside of using walking is this: there is no downside. There is no reason not to do it, especially if you are depressed or in a bad mood. Walking stimulates the brain to release endorphins, the body’s natural opiates, which can make you feel better about life right away. It also stimulates the brain to increase production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, another potent mood elevator. The mental benefits of walking are not unlike those produced by the popular antidepressant Prozac, yet without the potential side effects and certainly without the cost. Walking requires neither club membership nor permission from your healthcare provider. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, believed that “Of all exercises, walking is the best."
Walking at Work
Pedometer based walking programs are now the centerpiece of a number of company wellness programs. Many companies, from Google to IBM, have discovered that employees need more than medical insurance, they need an active wellness program.
As there are persons who mend torn garments, so there are physicians who heal the sick; but your duty is far nobler — namely, to keep your people in health. :: Xenophon, 400 BC
In Canada, Speakwell has been working with Ivanhoe Cambridge, the largest developer/owner of shopping centers in the country. The employees of 15 shopping centers are competing with each other as teams to do a virtual walk around the country using our “Circle Canada” [speakwell.com/ipedcanada].
The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) have so far purchased 3000 pedometers for their employees and it is good to see that physicians, nurses, technicians and other health employees are looking after their own health in addition to that of their patients.
It’s not just the major corporate programs that purchase pedometers and I was delighted to stumble on the story of staffers at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, whose modest staff wore pedometers for the duration of the festival. The winner, crowned the Champion Pedometrist of the World, covered 94.72 miles in 11 days. For some very funny interviews with competitors, including talk of doping and supplement use, go to this link.
Ever mindful of creating a great working environment, Google created 11 themed cafes where employees can dine free of charge on meals prepared by some of the leading chefs in the Bay area. The employees even have a song based on the hockey favorite “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye” by Steam, which goes “Na na, na na na, I eat at Google”, not epic lyrics, but not many people sing about company food. One employee, 29-year-old Brett Lider, is such a fan of the food that he has taken more than 100 digital photos of his meals and posted them to his blog and Flickr.com, the photo-sharing Web site, here. 
A vegetarian, he is impressed, but he tries to hold himself back. "I have a rule: I don't eat more than two meals a day at Google," Lider said. "I don't want to get sick of it.”
The only problem with the 11 cafes and 44 snack stations is “the Google 15”, which refers to the 15lbs, which employees often pack on in their first year with Google. To counterbalance this Google have developed walking programs and their on-site doctor is distributing free pedometers.
Walking Spree Inc. now offers sophisticated corporate walking and health programs using Omron uploadable pedometers.
Regional Programs
Pedometers are popping up everywhere and many mayors, premiers, governors, and other elected officials have led the way in well-photographed walks. Currently the 12 municipalities in my home city of Victoria are participating in the Highway to Health, which involves a virtual walk around Vancouver Island [fitinfitness.ca]. This is part of the Active Communities initiative, which aims to make BC the fittest province or state in North America by 2010. I’d be remiss in not mentioning another hotbed of pedometry in BC.
This is the city of Penticton, which may have the most pedometers per capita in the country. The Penticton Steps Out program, created by Bob Pope and Edis Computers, has become a template for more than 50 communities in the province.
Other major pedometer based walking initiatives are in the works in British Columbia, but as yet no details have been released. I will report on these in the next edition of ‘Well’.
I know of state sponsored pedometer based walking programs in Arkansas, Michigan, West Virginia, North Carolina, Montana, Maine, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, New Mexico and Ohio and I’m sure there are more.
(Our Fitnet friend, Tim Lane, in Iowa distributed an analogue pedometer long before pedometers became de rigueur for health conscious organizations.)
With so many pedometers are out there, and so many people on the move; as it says in the song, “You’ll never walk alone.” This certainly applies in Sao Paolo, where over 18,000 people participated in the Agita Mundo Walking 2007.
It is often suggested that we “think globally, act locally” so it is fitting to go from Agita Mundo to an initiative in my local village. Naz Rayani, pharmacist at People’s Pharmacy, is encouraging his customers to walk to his store, and offering a special package deal on my book and pedometer [You can check it out in our wellMart]. In order to facilitate the walking program both the pharmacy and next-door supermarket will deliver purchases at no charge. Everybody (as in every body) wins: people get a health-enhancing walk, there’s more room in the parking lot and a few less hydrocarbons in the atmosphere.
Life’s a struggle to become in fact that which we are by design.
:: Ortega y Gassett
(Remember, we are designed to walk.)
retreat
