A step counting apparatus for a treadmill includes a terminal device. The terminal device is placed on the treadmill. The terminal device includes an acceleration sensor, a processor and a memory. The memory is configured to store a software program. The acceleration sensor is configured to collect a vibration signal generated when a user runs on the treadmill. The processor is configured to execute the software program stored in the memory, to cause the processor to instruct the acceleration sensor to collect the vibration signal generated when the user runs on the treadmill. The processor is further configure to execute the software program to analyze, using a time-frequency analysis algorithm, the vibration signal to determine a quantity of exercise steps of the user on the treadmill.
