Ten thousand slices of Canyon Pizza would cost exactly $10,000. Ten thousand bottles of beer would cost about $8,000. Ten thousand CDs might cost $170,000. But 10,000 steps are absolutely free, and the benefits gained are more than anything gained from a slice of pizza, bottle of beer or CD.

In June 2002, President Bush proposed a fitness plan for the entire nation to get Americans up and moving. His plan focused on increasing the amount that Americans engage in physical activity each day.

For those who weren't used to any activity at all, the easiest way to start was with walking. Exercise programs sprung up all over the country, involving entire communities who were determined to lead more active lives. One of the more popular methods to tackling this goal was incorporating the use of pedometers in people's everyday lives.

A pedometer is a small clip-on device worn on the hip to track the number of steps taken each day. Not only does it count steps, but it also clocks distance traveled and kilocalories burned. Many programs make use of pedometers because they are easy to use, fun to watch and far from cumbersome.

Bush's proposal expects Americans to walk 10,000 steps a day to reach and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Those who are sedentary only reach between 2,000 and 3,000 steps each day.

Cassandra Kitko, coordinator of Health Matters, an employee wellness program at Penn State, teamed up with Human Resources and Transportation Services last August to start a program that promotes fitness among Penn State faculty and staff with the use of pedometers.

The program, "Park and Walk Walk Walk," has a dual purpose: to shed a positive light on the parking situation on campus and to increase the activity levels of its participants.

"The goal of the program is just to get people to realize how inactive they are during the day and hopefully get them to increase their activity level," Kitko said.

The program focuses on setting realistic and appropriate goals for each individual and rewarding those who reach their goals with discounted and free Health Matters fitness classes. There is a lot of variation among the 200 participants in the program; some came in hovering around 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day, and others reached 16,000. The main point is to look at people's current fitness levels and try to work up from there.

"For some people, it means running 5 miles every day, and for others, it means being able to pick up their grandchild without suffering from a stiff back afterwards," Kitko said.

She said that being fit means something different for everyone.

These programs aren't just for adults; several target teens as well. In fact, Penn State also has a first-year seminar that integrates pedometers into the curriculum. The students are given a pedometer at the start of the semester and are asked to record their daily steps and enter them in a "Step Log" on www.1000stepsaday.cqu.edu. This Web site converts the steps into mileage and the students can see how far they travel each day.

Emily Volpini (freshman-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) chose this course as her first-year seminar last fall. She said this drew focus to everyone's activities levels as they worked towards the "10,000-steps-a-day" goal. Volpini said she paid much more attention to her lifestyle when she wore the pedometer.

"If I had a choice to walk or take the bus, I'd look down at my pedometer to see how far I'd gone, and then usually I would decide to walk."

Volpini also said she thought twice about taking an elevator when she could climb a few flights of stairs instead. In addition, she started walking downtown more and said eventually, she found that reaching 10,000 steps wasn't so hard after all.

Aside from organized programs, individuals use pedometers as well. Kenneth Santos (junior-environmental engineering) started using a pedometer on his own after Christmas.

"I just went about my normal routine and found that some days were up to 13,000 and others were down at 7,000," he said.

Santos, who averaged 11,231 steps over 10 days, is a member of the ROTC Air Force. He finds that he gets enough exercise anyway but was just curious to see how far he walked on a campus like this one. He added that the pedometer didn't pick up everything he did in terms of activities.

"I do a lot of jumping jacks in physical training sessions for ROTC, and the pedometer won't pick that up, even though it's exercise," Santos said.

Michael Duffey, a former exercise and sport activities (ESACT) instructor and current assistant professor at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., verifies Santos' concern.

"Pedometers are good at telling you how many steps you took and can estimate distance traveled pretty well; although if your stride length varies, it will not pick this up, so there is some error," Duffey said.

Due to these concerns and the types of classes offered for students, Duffey said that many of the Penn State ESACT courses are phasing in the use of heart rate monitors instead of pedometers.

At a campus like University Park, with its 5,448 acres, it is not far out of reach to walk those 10,000 steps each day. Some common distances covered each day would surprisingly contribute to the 10,000 total. From the East Halls bus stop to the Forum Building, it is about half a mile or 1,092 steps. From Pollock Halls to Sackett or Willard buildings, it is about 0.68 miles or 1500 steps. This is a prime environment for reaching the 10,000-step goal.

Increasing the daily step total clearly has numerous benefits. In addition to improving cardiovascular health, blood pressure can be lowered for those at risk of hypertension. Also, the risk of developing osteoporosis is reduced in weight-bearing activities such as walking and jogging as well.

With these reasons and many others, it seems as though everyone could feasibly set one goal to improve his or her health. Whether an individual strives for 4,000 or 14,000 steps each day, he or she can join America in walking toward a healthier lifestyle.