Q:How do I wear my Pedometer?
Do
- Clip pedometer to your belt, skirt, slacks or pants on your hip, ensuring it is
straight (not on an angle)
- Press reset button to display 00000
- Start to walk, run or jog. The pedometer will record each step
- Enter your steps every 24 hours (for the previous day) on the GCC website
Don't
- Wear 2 pedometers. Only one GCC pedometer can be worn at any one time.
- Attach your pedometer anywhere else apart from your hip
- Put your pedometer near water or liquids. It is NOT waterproof.
Q:How do I take care of my pedometer?
A:Pedometers worn incorrectly such as on the front of the
belt buckle increases the risk of damage to the pedometer and incorrect step readings.
Care of your pedometer is important.
Q:When to wear my pedometer?
A:Ideally your pedometer should be with you at all times,
and taken off before you go to sleep. You may then record your steps every 24 hours.
As little as 250 steps a day over the course of a challenge equals 17km/10.5 miles
per person or 118km/73 miles per team. This is significant.
The GCC is primarily a walking event so apart from walking, cycling and swimming
and wearing your pedometer while undertaking physical activity (apart from water
sports), you are unable to estimate the steps you may have taken while...lets say...dragon
boat racing or rock climbing (rock falling on the other hand is sure to give you
a reading).
Q:Should I get the same reading on my pedometer as a person
going on exactly the same walk?
A:The answer is a clear no. While the distance you travel
will be the same, every individual has walking characteristics specific only to
themselves. Every person's stride will be different, the way a person walks will
influence step counts, the angle at which the pedometer sits on your clothing will
influence steps, the position at the pedometer is positioned on clothing (some like
to wear them towards the front), and whether you favour one particular side when
walking sitting or carrying something. It is not uncommon to see even a 20% difference
in total steps taken.
Q:What is a 'gait' and how does it affect pedometer readings?
A:Your gait is the way you move your body when you walk.
The parameters of an individual's gait are grouped to spatial-temporal (step length,
step width, walking speed, cycle time) and kinematic (joint rotation of the hip,
knee and ankle, mean joint angles of the hip/knee/ankle, and thigh/trunk/foot angles)
classes. All of these factors have an influence on a pedometer's reading and are
the reasons for differences in ‘hypothetically identical steps of two people'. Don't
be surprised if you see your pedometer record different step counts. Different gaits,
which hip you wear your pedometer on and pedometer positioning can all result in
varying step recordings.
Q:Can what I wear affect my step count?
A:Most certainly. GCC pedometers are designed to be worn
on the waistband about 1/2 way between your 'centre' (below your belly button) -
and your 'side' (hip). Either side will be fine. The pedometer should be worn as
straight as possible, not leaning forward, back or side-to-side. If the pedometer
is tilted, it will affect the accuracy of the mechanism that counts your steps.
This is why clothing can create a step count variance by causing a tilt during the
step process, (particularly clothing that is too loose or moves when you walk).
As you get to know your pedometer, you will learn what position, and indeed what
clothes give the most accurate reading. At the end of the day let's also remember
- 'A pedometer counts, but getting out and actually walking counts more.'
Q:Should I get the same reading if I wear two pedometers;
one on each hip?
A:Surprisingly the answer is no. In fact recent studies
from the journal Medicine and Science in Sport & Exercise (2003) say clearly
that the difference between two pedometers, one on each hip is at least 19% or better.
No pedometer shows 100% readings from left to right side. This result was derived
from testing a range of good performing pedometers. From a practical point of view
this could mean one might record 10,000 steps, while the other 8100 steps. The GCC
2010 pedometers however show a maximum difference of between 0-1.5%.
So please we request that you do not try and wear both pedometers at once to calibrate
them. As you can see from our specific field and lab testing, these have already
been done.
Q:Should my pedometer reading give me consistent readings
if I walk the same path each day?
A:According to the journal Medicine and Science in Sport
& Exercise (2003), the classic definition for an extremely accurate pedometer
is one that has an error of less than 3%, 95% of the time. Bringing this back to
a 10,000 step walk this would mean that 95 times out of 100 you should expect to
get between 9700 to 10,300. For the other 5 times out of 100 the pedometer reading
might be beyond these numbers. Our well controlled long-duration field testing showed
from 65 tests we had only 3 pedometers exceed 3% (maximum was less than 5%) hence
approximately 95.3% of the time they yield a great result. Our lab testing results
of which over 500 pedometers have been tested over a series of 500-500,000 walking
steps yields less than 0.05% error.
Q:Does the accuracy of the pedometers change when the speed
of a walk changes?
A:Although this does happen with a wide range of other
pedometers, this is not the case with GCC 2010 pedometer. This has been tested from
slow walking, to moderate paced walking, power walking to running. The accuracy
still holds.
Q:Can I compare last year's pedometer to this year's?
A:The GCC 2009 pedometer batteries are over one year old
and hence may well be almost out of power. Secondly the 2009 pedometer has now lasted
125 days of GCC plus further 8-months and hence may have undergone some battering
and bruising. Sometimes the gruelling nature of the event might dislodge internal
mechanisms (this especially is prone when dropped) such as the spring (found inside).
While the 2009 pedometers were tough and durable, we suggest that there might be
inherent errors in comparisons that might lead to invalid conclusions.
Q:What happens to pedometers that have an error greater
than 2%?
A:GCC have the most stringent and thorough quality control
processes in the world. Every single pedometer is tested for accuracy and any that
exceed 2% during production are discarded. Further to this finished products are
again randomly selected and tested by quality control personal. While this is a
much more costly and time consuming process we believe it is part of delivery GCC
participants a world class product.
Q:Can I buy an extra pedometer if I lose or break both
of mine?
A:If you need to purchase another GCC pedometer as you
have lost or broken both of yours that you were provided at the beginning of the
challenge, please email pedometer@gettheworldmoving.com
with the quantity of pedometers required and someone from the GCC will be in touch
with you to confirm your order. Payment of your pedometer order can only be made
by Credit Card prior to your order being mailed out to you.
Q:Will I ever need to replace the battery in my GCC Pedometer?
What do I do with the old battery that I remove?
A: Your GCC pedometer is fitted with an Alkaline Coin LR1130
battery inside (a battery based on Lithium - Li). This battery is built to last
the full duration of the event however at some point in the future; this battery
will come to the end of its usable life. If this happens, a replacement LR1130 battery
can be purchased very easily and can be fitted by unscrewing the two small screws
on the reverse of your pedometer. It is however important that your old battery
is disposed in an environmentally correct manner. Although this differs by country
and region, many local authorities participate in a battery collection scheme so
the GCC advises that you contact your local authority to seek their advice on the
local provisions for the safe disposal of old batteries.
The GCC is also pleased to help with the safe recycling of old batteries and would encourage you to send any old GCC batteries to the following addresses:
European participants – Please send to Live Active Ltd, York Eco Business Centre, Amy Johnson Way, YO30 4AG, United Kingdom.
Southern Hemisphere/Asia participants – Please send to Global Corporate Challenge, PO Box 427, St Kilda, VIC, 3182, Australia.
North American participants – Please send to Global Corporate Challenge, 2711 N. Sepulveda Blvd. #158, Manhattan Beach, CA, 90266, United States of America.
