Healthy Walking Tips

1. Feel-Fabulous Walking Tricks
Run out of steam in the middle of walking? Adjust your mindset, say University of Illinois researchers. Women who believed they could complete their workout reported less fatigue and discomfort than women who weren't as confident--and that can mean the difference between quitting and persevering.

2. Speed Up for Amazing Health
Vary your walking pace to keep your heart, lungs, and joints young. Women over age 50who did intervals increased lung capacity nearly 10%, and, compared with their evenly paced peers, improved knee strength (which helps prevent pain) twice as much and lowered blood pressure 2 1/2 times as much, according to a Japanese study. Plus, by alternating 3 minutes of strolling with 3 minutes at a fast, breathless clip, they finished their walks 10 minutes sooner. Intersperse 15 minutes of brisk strides throughout your workout twice weekly to maximize the age-defying benefits of walking.

3. Walk Longer and Stronger
To strengthen your lower body for a faster, more powerful stride, do jump squats 3 times a week. Add a set 10 minutes into your walk, midway through, and at the end. Jumps increase impact, which builds more bone, while squats sculpt your thighs and butt. As you get stronger, challenge yourself to up your walking pace.

JUMP SQUATS
(1) With feet hip-width apart, toes forward, sit back, keeping knees behind toes. (2) From there, jump into the air and bend knees as you land with feet wider, toes pointed out. (3) Squat, then jump again, landing in start position. Continue to alternate for all reps, working up to 20 jump squats each set.

4. Think in Steps, Not Minutes
Meet your walking goals by thinking of how much you're doing, not how long it takes.

5. Make Walking More Fun

Eight tricks from seasoned striders. Make it a game. Walk as long as it takes to spot, say, three red cars. Then set a new game objective, and keep on walking.
Follow a new lead. Let your dog set the pace.

Entertain a party. Plan a progressive dinner where each course is a walk away from the next. Start with healthy appetizers at one house, the main course at the next stop a couple of miles away, and dessert at the third.

Travel an unmapped course. Don't plan your route. Instead, make decisions at every turn based on what looks interesting. Follow a curious-looking winding street to its end, or a hill to its top view.