The effects of a walking program on the mile times low fit adolescents

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of pedometer training on low-fit adolescents. This research was motivated by a growing number of students who cannot run a mile in less than 1 1 minutes. The participants were 15-year-old students enrolled in a physical education class at a northern Indiana high school. Participants wore an Oregon Scientific pedometer over a period of three months and recorded their total number of daily steps taken during that time. Students ran a timed mile at the beginning of the three-month time period and then again at the end. The recorded times were evaluated using the Wilcoxon Ranked Test and mean comparisons to determine changes in students' running performance and correlation with daily steps as measured with a pedometer. Additional variables evaluated included the average number of steps/week and attitudes regarding use of a pedometer to track physical activity.