Forget the inspirational tapes and cancel the personal trainer! People with diabetes looking for motivation when it comes to exercise may have to look no further than the lowly pedometer.

Type 2 diabetics who wear pedometers to track the number of steps they take while walking for exercise rack up an extra 1,900 to 2,600 steps per day, compared with their pedometer-less counterparts.

That's the conclusion of a recent six-week study involving 35 sedentary and overweight people with diabetes conducted by the University of Michigan Health System and Veterans Administration Ann Arbor Health System.

Researchers divided participants into two groups: One group's members counted all of the steps they took throughout the day; members of the second group counted only the steps they took while walking more than 10 minutes for exercise.

In either case, participants found themselves walking more per day because of their ability to accurately track their actual number of steps.

An added motivational factor may have been the USB ports that researchers installed on the pedometers. The ports connected study participants to a Web site that tracked their steps and progress toward individual goals.

Stanford Study Reaches Similar Conclusion

In the same vein, a Stanford University database search of 26 studies involving pedometer use shows that 2,767 adult participants increased the number of steps they took daily by an average of 2,183. That number amounted to an increase in daily physical activity of 27 percent.

This means that for a very low price - you can buy a good basic pedometer for around $25 - the motivation to get up, get out and get walking can come in a surprisingly small package.