How to Measure Distances by Walking

Walking is wonderful exercise and an ideal way to meet standard recommendations of getting 30 minutes of physical exercise every day. For the cost of shoes and a little bit of time, you can improve your health. As you improve in fitness, you may wonder how far you are walking. Learning to measure distances by walking is integral to tracking your fitness progress. As you get into better shape, the distance you can walk in 30 minutes will gradually begin to increase.

Calibrate your pedometer according to the package instructions. For most pedometers, you will clip it to your belt or strap it to your ankle and then walk a few steps, checking the accuracy of your pedometer. If the pedometer is incorrect, you may be able to program certain aspects of your pedometer or attach it to your body differently in order to achieve maximum accuracy.

Set your pedometer to track miles instead of steps. Not all pedometers offer the capability to track miles, so you will need to ensure that your particular model can track miles.

Attach your pedometer to your body according to the package instructions. While calibrating your model, you should have already determined the best position of the unit on your body.

Turn your pedometer on as you begin walking; make sure it is set to zero miles when you start.

Look at your pedometer once you’ve reached your destination to determine the distance you walked.