How to use the iPod Nano as a Pedometer

The following excerpt is from iPod: The Missing Manual, 9th Edition. Below the author shows how you can use the iPod Nano to help with your fitness goals.

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In addition to its Stopwatch feature, the iPod Nano includes another treat for fitness buffs: a colorful pedometer that tells you how many steps you’ve taken—since you turned on the pedometer, anyway. (It measures steps based on readings from the iPod’s built-in motion sensor.) The pedometer also displays how many calories you burn in the process. All this careful bookkeeping is intended to help with your workout goals.

To set up the pedometer for the first time:

• On the Home screen, tap Fitness→Pedometer.
  
  
• Use the onscreen wheels to spin up your weight. (If you need to change your weight later, go to Settings→Pedometer→Weight.)
  
  
• Tap the Start button to begin counting your steps, Nano-style (this also turns the Start button into a Stop button). A little shoe icon in the Nano’s menu bar tells you that the pedometer is on and counting away.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Tap the Stop button when you’re done so you can see the total number of steps you took (and calories you burned) for the day.

You can see a history of your recorded steps by tapping Fitness→History. When the History screen appears, tap the Personal Bests, Workout Totals, or the month whose walking stats you want to review. The session history lists your workout duration, stop and start times, calories burned, and total steps for the day and week.

As the most fitness-oriented iPod in the bunch, the latest Nano lets you set a goal for how much walking you want to do in a day. From the Home screen, tap Settings→Pedometer→Daily Step Goal. Tap the Off button to On, use the spinny wheels to dial up a goal, and then tap Done. The Nano displays your progress on the pedometer’s main screen so you can see how you’re doing.

Serious fitness buffs might want to get the $29 iPod + Nike Sport Kit (www.apple.com/ipod/nike) for the Nano. It includes a special shoe sensor, uploads your workout data to Nike’s website, and offers plenty of power music mixes.

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Tip:

If you pick up a 2009 Nano on eBay, it has a pedometer that works basically the same way as the one described here. The big difference? You navigate to the menus with the click wheel instead of by tapping.

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