Pedometers are becoming increasingly popular in assessing physical fitness due to its economic value and its high correlation with physical activity levels. To date, there are no studies exploring the accuracy of different types of pedometers when measuring different locomotor movements.  Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the two pedometers when walking, skipping, galloping, sliding, and hopping.  Sixty-two male and female college students (23.4±4.6 yrs, 68.7±4.4 inches, 167.8±36.6 lbs) were fitted with a spring-loaded (SL) pedometer (Yamax, LS 7010, Japan) and a piezoelectric (PE) pedometer (New Lifestyles NL-800, MO, USA) side by side on the right anterior hip, then performed the randomly assigned movements for the length (85.5 ft) of a hardwood court playing surface, during which time the investigator tallied the steps with a hand counter (Lab Safety Supply Inc, Model No. 77270, USA). Each step with the lead foot elicited a tally on the counter. Participants were instructed to perform the movement at a brisk pace, to jump-stop at the end of the court, and to remain still until after the pedometer reading was recorded. Time was given, if needed, to recover before the next trial. Repeated measure ANOVAs using the Bonferroni technique were used to compare differences between pedometer counts and hand counts.  See Table 1 for results. In conclusion, the PE pedometer demonstrated better agreement versus the SL pedometer when compared to the hand tally during each locomotor movement.  Both seem to miss some vertical forces produced by the trail leg during skipping, galloping, and sliding movements.  If using pedometers to accurately assess these types of movements, the PE pedometer should be considered.

 

Table 1. Step Counts Measured Using the Pedometers and Hand Tally
	Hand Tally	Spring-Loaded	Piezoelectric
Walking	31.9±3.2	33.0±5.6	33.2±3.4*
Skipping	18.1±3.4	28.4±8.0*	23.1±5.3**
Galloping	17.9±2.9	27.5±8.2*	22.7±5.6**
Sliding	19.0±3.1	30.4±9.6*	23.5±6.6**
Hopping	24.8±6.2	26.8±7.2*	27.0±6.3*
Note: Values represent Mean ± SD *Significantly different from hand tally, p < .01 ** Significantly different from hand tally and SL, p < .01