How I 'walked' 32 kilometers in one night without going anywhere
Last Sunday, like most Sundays, my pedometer told me that I had covered more than 15 kilometers. No, I'm not training to run a half marathon and no, I'm not on a drastic diet, yet the kilometers are there. Here's my little secret.
15 km on foot without even realizing, it's possible!
A few months ago, I had fun with colleagues comparing the pedometers of our smartphones to see if we were doing enough. To everyone's surprise, I discover a nice 15 kilometers covered one Sunday. Not all weekend. That was on Sunday only!
Damn, if my memory doesn't fail me, I stayed in bed and watched Netflix for three-quarters of that day. Am I a sleepwalker? Absolutely not! I just partied all night. Dancing, walking, jumping, everything is taken into account by the pedometer on my phone and frankly, the result is amazing!
The pedometer said so, so it must be true.
Since that day, looking at the pedometer on my phone is a little ritual I like to do at the beginning of the week. Because yes, treading the dancefloor to the rhythm of the music is something I do on a weekly basis, and seeing how much I've "traveled" by dancing leads me to say that it's even (almost) good for my health... A few months after this discovery, I arrive at the office on a Monday, proud of my performances, announcing: "During the night from Saturday into Sunday, I danced 32 kilometers". That particular day, I clearly looked like a liar.
"The pedometer proves it!" I proudly brandished my phone to my more-than-skeptical audience, who realized that yes, if the calculations are accurate, I did indeed travel 32 kilometers. It's worth noting that the party was in a suburb very (very) far from the capital, three kilometers from the station, so I had reached 5 kilometers before I even walked the dancefloor.
A fun, alternative use for the pedometer
This use of the pedometer has even become a game between me and my friends. Just as the Nike Run Club can put you in competition and allow you to motivate yourself, the pedometer is now the referee of our evenings. "Ahhhh last night I danced more than you Juliet!", proudly boats a friend who shows me that she, unlike me, had not taken a break from dancing to chat with friends from 1:00 am to 2:30 am.
"Yes, but I 'danced' 4 kilometers between 2:00 am. to 3:00 am., while you only danced 3.5 kilometers." We say this kind of stuff now. Besides, if I've covered so many kilometers, it must have been when this artist I love so much was playing. Even if our memory is lacking, the pedometer allows us to know almost exactly from what time to what time we danced, and with what intensity!
However, I do wonder if these figures are really reliable. They indicate a trend, that's for sure, but I find it surprising that a friend reaches 43 kilometers on his Huawei, while I'm "only" at 32 kilometers on my iPhone, yet we spent the whole evening together. Certainly, he dances more intensely, but still!
The question of the reliability of these pedometers is a serious one, it is one that I should look into in the future to bring you a more definitive answer.
Other useful features for nights out or festivals
Imagine the results you could achieve if you don't dance for a whole night, but for a whole weekend or even a whole week? Yes, the pedometer is also very useful in festivals!
It would be even better if you use a fitness tracker that counts the number of calories you have burned, your heart rate and as always... the number of steps. I am sure that after three days of dancing, the results would be even more amazing! I should try the next time I go to one of these events....
What do you think of using a pedometer in this way? What are some other alternatives uses for tech you have found?
It is easy to cheat with these devices. I always check mine against a known rout. I have counted the steps and used GPS to confirm the distance. I have 1900 steps to a mile and walk 4 miles most days. the rest of my daily 10k+ steps comes from my regular activity
You could always do like "Howard Wolowitz" on BBT, just stick it in a paint mixer and show that you walked 10 miles... LOL