So, all of you Destination: You (D:Y) users are familiar with how cool it is that the Tracker can differentiate between your walking and running steps by use of accelerometer technology and a complex set of algorithms (mmm . . . math). But what are those “Other Activity” steps that show up in dark blue on your Weekly Progress graph? We’re glad you asked; everyone does.

That Other Activity is movements that were tracked but could not be identified as either walking or running. That could mean any of three things:

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Our Tracker helps you benefit from physical activity, even if you have no weight to lose.

I just read an article in National Geographic about what motivated humans to start walking upright on two legs instead of four. I will let you Google it if you really want to know, but it appears that the oldest motivation is quite similar to the oldest profession.

We all have different motivations to start and keep exercising. Yours might be to lose weight or get a healthier heart. Or it might be just to feel better, like this very, very skinny girl (pictured, with the Tracker on her foot) who has neither weight to lose nor a heart. Or it might be because your doctor has told you that you have to – or else.

Regardless of what inspired you to start exercising in the first place, Destination: You has a variety of built-in motivational tools to keep you going, and there are lots of ways to use the program to motivate your participants.

• Some people are motivated by competition, and the Challenge options in D:Y help keep them moving. Create team or individual challenges regularly for all of your participants to encourage them with some friendly competition. You might also want to remind them that they can challenge each other for bragging rights.

• Others might be motivated by the social aspects. Use the postcards in D:Y to invite participants to a walking group once or twice a week at lunch time. They can chit chat out in the fresh air while getting their steps in. The postcards also let you share your accomplishments with your walking pals so you can encourage each other.

• Prizes, incentives, and even their name in lights (or a newsletter or email) are huge motivators. Reward challenge winners with small prizes and incentives, and set larger goals with even larger rewards to really get people going. Consider giving away a half day off for anyone reaching one million steps or put the names of those reaching a large goal into a drawing for a full day off or a cash incentive. It’s also amazing what people will do for a t-shirt; set target step levels at which participants could earn t-shirts, like belts in karate.

Let us know if we can help you find your motivation and help others find theirs. I can’t promise what the first walkers got, but I can help you brainstorm some fun ideas.

A belated happy “Embrace Your Inner Geekness Day” everybody.  No lie, it was yesterday.  Having spent most of my teen years trying to get anyone to embrace my outer geek, the holiday seems to have come about 30 years too late for me.

I celebrated by playing Dance Dance Revolution on the Wii with my oldest daughter and running on the treadmill while watching the MLB All-Star Game.  It reminded me that, for the vast majority of us, the real value of technology in fitness is not in its ability to give us a ‘better’ workout (though it can) but rather in that it helps us forget we’re actually doing exercise. A very small percentage of the population actually enjoys exercise.  The rest of us do it for what it does for us and look for ways to make it more bearable.

My daughter has always been much more enamored with music and drama than team sports; but turn on the Wii, and she’ll happily dance for an hour.  For me, it’s a struggle to get up and run every day, and the most reliable variable for how long I can go is my entertainment option.  I’m at my best when I’m running with a group (see Dirty Nerd post from last month).  However, when that’s not available to me, the length of my session is almost entirely dependent on what’s on:

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Some recent health news questions whether newer is really better:

As if Apple’s recently launched iPad hasn’t had enough criticism from their generally adoring public, ergonomics experts fear it’ll lead to bad posture. Fortunately, they also share some tips to ease the burden of mobile computing. (LiveScience)

Sara Lee claims that their new EarthGrains bread is better for the environment. (Reuters) But a farm-policy analyst group calls it a “crass and exploitive marketing ploy” that has little to do with organic standards. (The Cornucopia Institute)

3-D movies might make you nauseous. But given the box office records that Avatar has broken, this seems to be a minority phenomenon. Just don’t say you weren’t warned. (New York Times)

Hot dogs may not be what you think of as a ‘technology,’ but they certainly don’t come straight from the pig that way! Now, pediatricians warn that hot dogs and other firm, round foods should be redesigned to prevent choking. They issued a policy statement and tips for parents. (HealthyChildren.org)

Old-school makes a comeback! Learn how Olympic gold-medalist Lindsey Vonn recovered from her injury partly by applying cheese to her leg. (CNN) Then check out the latest fitness trend: rope. (Washington Post) Yes, just rope … with online instruction. (Art of Strength)

Here are a few stories and resources that we thought merit reposting:

As the rescue efforts continue in Haiti, bear in mind that not all charitable organizations are equal. Some have higher overhead and administrative costs, so a smaller portion of each dollar goes to those in need. Charity Navigator is the largest charity analyst in the country, and they have a special listing of three- and four-star charities currently on the ground in Haiti.

Here’s a trend we want to accelerate: as of last year, bicycling accounted for a full 1% of all trips in the U.S. That’s up 25% in a decade. (League of American Bicyclists)

High salt intake may have as big a health impact as smoking. That’s the conclusion of a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. To do your part, check out this easy guide for sodium reduction. (Dummies.com)

Need another reason for us to eat better? A new report finds that one in five U.S. teens has unhealthy cholesterol levels. (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

Shape up, iPhone users! Check out these top 10 apps to help you stay smart, drink responsibly, track your workouts and more. (Gaj-it.com)

Finally, another instance of science confirming the obvious: turns out we really are happier on the weekends! Thanks, doc. (Livescience)

The big health story this week is the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. Reliable organizations accepting donations for the effort include Doctors Without Borders, the American Red Cross, and UNICEF, and finding a trusted organization is vital in light of the FBI warning about scammers already trying to defraud charitable donors.

Will air travel soon up your cancer risk? The new body scanners use a type of radiation that’s already incited debate. (New York Times)

Here in Philly, we know the Amish who come in by horse and buggy from Lancaster County to sell butter and pies. Now there’s a surprising report that the Ohio Amish have lower cancer rates. (Ohio State University Medical Center, or read the full article in Cancer Causes & Control)

As if the American Idol auditions weren’t painful enough, TV watching has now been linked with a shortened life span. (CNN, or the full article in Circulation)

From patio furniture to artificial femur: check out this fascinating video showing how rattan wood is being re-engineered into a bone substitute to one day treat injuries, arthritis and more. (BBC)

The four-mile run you last read about felt pretty good … until the next day. “Ankle impingement” says a physical therapist friend of mine. It turns out that when you wreak havoc on your ankles playing tennis, rugby, and hockey, and you repeatedly sprain your ankle, the ligaments and tendons that you stretched out as though on one of those Scooby Doo-style torture racks stay stretched out for a bit. Leaning forward as I was – too much so as I learned – trying to be the perfect chi runner, things somewhere between skin and bone quite literally got pinched and flared up.

The good news is that I think I’m past the back tightening and ankle flaring and have settled into a more natural gate. It all fell into place Saturday on a treadmill as I focused more on landing mid-foot and let that automatically place my body into proper alignment. Now, maybe all the rigid, back-spasm-inducing tilting of my pelvic area did help, but if it’s as simple as focusing on how your foot falls and I could have avoided feeling like an old man after every run, then I wish someone would have told me sooner. Thanks for the heads up.

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Sunday, the best day of the week. The Eagles just manhandled the Chiefs, so I’m a happy camper.  Half-time of the second games seems like the perfect time to test-drive my Vibrams.  Taking the advice of experts, I set out for a one-mile run through my neighborhood.  Sliding them on and strapping them up is not the easiest of tasks.  My toes don’t want to cooperate, and my disfigured big toe on my left foot sticks out rather than fitting into the rubber tip; poor little guy is the victim of a full-speed collision with an outfield wall.

On the unforgiving concrete of Philadelphia, it takes about eight seconds to confirm my suspicion that some changes need to be made to normal running style.  Most runners (me included) land heel first, but in these shoes, heel strikes send pain signals through the legs up to the spine.  Thankfully, I’m prepared for this.  I’ve done my homework on something called “chi running,” and by homework, I mean I watched a one-minute clip online.  Yup, I’m gonna find my center; connect with my inner self one stride at a time.  I bend my knees a bit, maneuver my pelvis forward engaging my abs, get my shoulders, hips, and ankles in line, and lean forward from my ankles not my waist.  This is a lot to keep track of; I have absolutely no idea whether I am chi running or contorting myself into an injury waiting to happen.

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Scott models his Vibram FiveFingers

I’m injured, again.  Yup, turns out I have a bone spur, and oh yeah, favoring the foot that plays host to that tiny little bump of unwelcome bone that tears at the surrounding muscles has made my herniated disc very unhappy.  Apparently, I’m not alone.  Experts estimate that roughly eight out of every ten runners will end up on the shelf each year for some period of time with one of the many assorted injuries we inflict upon ourselves with repetitive pavement pounding.

Why are all runners seemingly perpetually hobbled?  That question, coupled with desperation and about five hundred Google search variations, led me to Vibram FiveFingers® footwear.  What they are supposed to do is connect me to our ancient roots when people ran not for sport but for life.  They ran for food, and from becoming food, and they did it (gasp) without expensive sneakers with padding, reflective patches and air shocks.  They did it in bare feet.  Even today, the fastest people on earth — the Tarahumara tribe in Copper Canyon, Mexico — routinely run hundreds of miles without stopping and without padded running shoes, just homemade leather sandals.

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For some reason, yesterday morning the buttons on my treadmill started taking on random functionality. At the start of my run the ‘faster,’ ’slower,’ and ‘incline’ buttons worked as they were supposed to but the ‘decline’ button behaved like the ‘faster’ button. So all was okay. However, as I got farther into my run, ‘faster, ’slower,’ ‘incline,’ and ‘decline’ all behaved like the ‘faster’ button. And, so far as I could tell, the ’slower’ function was nowhere to be found. To be fair, the ’stop’ button was working at all times so I wasn’t really at great risk of belt-sanding my forehead.

I did, however, feel the need to take apart the treadmill and re-seat all of the cables to see if it would fix anything. Sadly, no. In fact, it was pretty well just another spin of the chamber because this morning when I ran on the treadmill (yes, I know it’s broken, but still, I was curious to see what would happen) the ’start’ button didn’t do anything, the ‘incline’ button worked as the ’start’ button and all other buttons just made the treadmill go faster.

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