Activ8rlives Buddy step counter, User Manual

Page: 9 / 56

9
Counting steps, distance walked, calories and
activity time.
Steps
We have done the easy bit. Now we have to actually use our Activ8rlives Buddy step counter !
Attach your step counter to your belt, hang it around your neck, wear it in your sock or in our
arm/ankle strap when you are cycling. It does not matter where you attach it as long as you
wear it all day. Pockets are not great for step counters—we forget about them and they end-up
in washing machines. For this reason, it is recommended that you
DO NOT wear your Buddy in
pockets.
The Activ8rlives Buddy step counter has a 3-axis accelerometer chip and a microprocessor which
measures how you move (accelerate) in three dimensions and it uses this information to
calculate the number of steps you take. You will notice that the display does not always update
as you move (it has a 10 step filter to eliminate inaccuracies due to non activity-related
movement) and may even go blank. It has a sleep mode to make the battery last longer but will
wake up and update from time-to-time or if you continue moving. It also records how much
time you spend exercising. Useful as part of a rehabilitation programme.
If you hold the Buddy in your hand as you walk, you will see just how accurately it can “sense”
your steps and starts counting these after you have taken 10 consecutive steps. Another ability
of the
Buddy is that it will count and store your steps for your last 7 days so that you can upload
these at any time.
Calories
Calories are calculated based on your stride length and your weight. The values are approximate
but gives you a useful indication of how much effort it takes to burn off the food you have eaten.
You will be able to measure how much physical effort it takes to burn-off even 200-300 Kcal—
talk about an incentive to reduce your intake of “junk” calories (a chocolate muffin at Starbucks
is 500 calories—that takes a lot of walking to burn this snack off!)
Distance
Again, an approximate distance value is calculated for you based on your steps and your average
stride length. Useful for estimating how far you walk at work or at school, for example.
Steps, distance, calories and activity time are all saved to your Buddy step counter and can be
uploaded to your personal Activ8rlives account. This is covered in later sections. You can have
a lot of fun with this information.