Walking
We now know from many studies that walking is one of the healthiest activities we can do. We are also now discovering that our walking itself can give us clues to health problems and can even predict when we are at greater risk of falling. By examining the characteristics of our walking we can also be alerted to changes that we need to address.
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Walking Analysis
Walking analysis on SeeMyHealth is designed to help you track your walking and spot changes which could signal problems. This will help you keep your goals and address issues, either on your own, with a doctor or physio.
How Does it Work?
Walking analysis depends on sensors in your iPhone. Just by keeping your iPhone in your pocket when you walk, you are gathering data about your walking. Specifically you are measuring;
- Step Length
- Step asymmetry
- Double Support
- Step Speed
- Step Count
- Flights Climbed
Taken together Apple uses the first four metrics to create a measure they call "Walking Steadiness". Walking Steadiness gives an overall quick measure of your walking. The number is given as a percentage where 100% is perfect steadiness. If you see declines in your overall measure of steadiness, you should take a look at what could be causing the change.
The first component of steadiness is asymmetry. This is also a percentage, it is the percent of your steps which are asymmetrical, 0% means perfect symmetry and 100% means all your steps are asymmetrical. When your symmetry falls below 60% (asymmetry > 40%) you should talk to your doctor.
The second component, double support, measures the amount of time you have both feet on the ground. When running, for example, double support is zero (0) because you quickly change from one foot to the other. Normal range for walking is between 20% and 40%. If your DS time increases, it can indicate a loss of balance. Again, if it goes over 50%, you should consider talking to a doctor.
The third component is step speed. Speed is an obvious metric, if you are slowing down, you should find out why. Make sure that your height is accurately entered into the health app otherwise it won't compute your walking speed correctly.
We have also included step count, steps per day, flights climbed and walking heart rate in the walking screen. This is an easy metric for keeping you on track. Most of us over-estimate our exercise and other good habits and under-estimate our bad habits, this is where our app can really help you keep on your program.
- Walking Heart Rate
- Walking heart rate is measured by the Apple Watch, not the iPhone itself. If you track it and send the data to your iPhone, you can send to SeeMyHealth to view in your walking report.
- Alternately you can measure it on your own and enter the data directly into this app.
Here is a link to Apple's study about Walking Quality.