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Fernando Alonso At A Glance
Date of Birth - 29th July 1981
Country - Spain
Team - Renault
Fernando Alonso's father built him a kart when he was two years old and he started racing seriously when he was 13 years old. He won the Spanish cadet national kart title...
SportGamble.us Picks this Year's College Football Bowl Games
Here are the consensus bowl picks from the SportGamble.us staff.
Tue., Dec. 14
New Orleans Bowl
North Texas vs Southern Mississippi
SG’s Pick: North Texas
If the So. Miss defense can stop Jamario Thomas from adding to his gaudy...
Swimming and Shoulder Injuries
Most sports come with injuries to accompany them. Although swimming is, by most standards, not a sport associated with high risk of injury, it does have it’s own problems. By far the biggest source of sidelining swimming injuries is the shoulder. ...
Top 25 College Football Rankings are Meaningless!
What is he talking about? If you think Top 25 Rankings are a great way to handicap football games, let me lend some friendly advice. I have to admit that I would be hard pressed to name more than 20 of the Top 25 teams going into this weekends games...
Vive Les Chats! Australian Football Expatriate Life
Paris is a truly wonderful city. There may be none more beautiful or with more character in the world. However, as an Aussie, one vital ingredient tragically lacking in the host of entertainment this city has to offer, is real footy coverage,...
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Which Came First, the Pedometer or the 10,000 Steps Program?
Like sushi, Sumo, and Hello Kitty, the idea of walking 10,000 steps per day is "made in Japan." It originated with Japanese researchers, most notably a Dr. Yoshiro Hatano, who wanted to determine the calorie burn resulting from brisk walking. He then wanted to take that research and try to stem the rising tide of obesity in his country.
Dr. Hatano's research determined the average person took 3,500 to 5,000 steps per day, and that increasing that count to 10,000 steps per day would result in better health and lower weight. Combine sophisticated research with the penchant for Japanese technology, and the pedometer is born.
Pedometer use quickly swept Japan, with millions of citizens strapping on a "Manpo-kei" (10,000 steps meter). The trend also caught on in the USA, where we have our own problems with obesity in adults and-alarmingly-in children as well.
However, Dr. Hatano is not the original inventor of the pedometer. Based on Leonardo da Vinci's drawings, it is generally believed he created the earliest versions of a device to count steps.
Thomas Jefferson was also involved, hundreds of years after da Vinci, as he brought a step counter back from his sojourns in France. Jefferson was a staunch advocate of regular walking for mental and physical health.
Jefferson penned a well-known epistle to his nephew, Peter Carr, where he advised him on what he needed to do to become a productive member of society. There were a number of subjects Jefferson wanted him to study, but he
also wanted him to walk regularly. He said:
The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk; but divert your attention by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
He also said Carr should carry a gun with him, but no books. I'm thinking that practice would be frowned upon today, however.
The great thing about walking is that anyone can do it, and you can do it anyplace at just about any time. There are exceptions of course to the above statement, but it is the absolute simplest form of exercise.
You don't need any special clothing (although comfortable shoes are nice) or special equipment (although a pedometer is recommended). You can do it alone or with a group. You can do it with your family, your friends, or your pets.
Do you need a formal "program"? Not necessarily, but it can help. Some programs will walk you through establishing a baseline, setting goals, and working to meet those goals. A good program can help you stay on track until you meet your health and fitness goals.
So it's not important whether the pedometer or the 10,000 steps program came first. The important thing is to get out and move!
About the Author
Visit http://www.rypsports.com/pedometerinfo.html to download a FREE e-book that will teach you more about pedometers and help you select the right one for you.
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