WALKING MILES IN A DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19550, 1 February 1927, Page 18

WALKING MILES IN A DAY.

HOUSEWIFE'S PEDOMETER. In spite of all that the physicians tell us about tin} vital importance of walking as a factor in health, few of us take the trouble to reckon up how much ground we cover in a day, writes Harry J. Fernie, a golf professional, in the Daily Mail. If we did, a good many of us would be astonished. Even people who spend most of tlieir time indoors, and never walk merely for the sake of fitness, would be surprised and gratified if they knew their daily mileage. As a professional golfer I find myself occupied largely with teaching. During the season it is quite common for me to give 9 ov 10 lessons of an hour each daily. At the end of the day I usually felt very tired, and I often wondered how many miles I walked in the course of the day's instruction. So I got a pedometer—a contrivance similar to a watch, which starts to record as soon as the wearer starts walking. To my surprise I found that, after an ordinary golf lesson. I had walked a little over two miles, and that in one week, after having given 54 lessons, I found the pedometer had registered a little over 110 miles. I had been under the impression that as I had not been playing golf on the course that week I had not hail much exercise. Actually 1 had covered 17 miles a day. During her cleaning season my wife wore the pedometer, and was surprised to find that with her running lip and down stairs arid attending to different household duties the pedometer registered about 10 miles a day. As a further test 1 gave the pedometer to a solicitor friend who was doing no walkmp except in connection with his business, and he found that he was coverma about eight miles a dav. My own golf cours* is 6300 vards longthat it, a little less than miles I was p.aying with a pupil who carried the pedometer. He was pulling his tee shots badlv off the line. At the end of the round we found that, with the distances between greens and tees, the pedometer nad registered 5 1-3 miles for the roundmore than an extra half round of the course.