Get Moving Every Day! 7 Practical Tips To Keep You Walking Regularly

Walking is one of the best low-impact exercises for weight loss, maintaining mobility, strengthening muscles and boosting cardiovascular health. This exercise is easy on the joints and can be done by individuals of any age. Staying physically active is crucial for overall health and longevity.

Walking also has several benefits for mental health. According to the Mental Health Foundation, walking for just 20 minutes has been shown to increase our mental alertness, energy and positive mood.

Walking is an excellent way to stay physically active without much effort or equipment. If you have a tough time staying consistent with your daily steps, here are some tips to get you walking every day.

7 Tips to get you walking every day

1. Find new places to walk

Walking on the same path every day could get mundane. To mix things up, you can try a new route or trail. Exploring new places on foot can also have a relaxing effect on your brain, helping reduce your stress and anxiety. Finding new places to walk can also help you discover interesting places that could become your favourites.

2. Challenge yourself

One of the most effective ways to motivate yourself to walk everyday is to set a challenge for yourself. Setting a goal at the end of a task can nudge you to see it through. The same goes for any type of physical activity. You can challenge yourself to walk more than the previous week or cover more distance. This can help you increase more steps.

3. Work it in your daily routine

If you are unable to finish your steps due to time constraints or hectic schedule, find ways to work it into your routine. You can increase walking time in your commute from work to home or any other way that is suitable to you. You can ditch your car or get off the bus or train one stop early to increase your walking time.

4. Buddy up

Buddying up is a great way to maintain consistency in your exercise routine. Walking with a buddy can help increase your steps. Walking with a friend or colleague could be a great bonding exercise.

Opting for walking meetings with coworkers can help you break the patterns of your sedentary lifestyle. Scheduling a daily or weekly walking time with someone can help you stay more consistent and committed.

5. Make it a comfortable experience

If you are new to exercising and looking to start with regular walks, start small. You don't have to walk miles and hours in the beginning. In the beginning, you must focus on maintaining your consistency rather than the measure of distance or number of hours.

Walk for a fewer number of steps and increase your step count gradually as you become more consistent.

7. Make it a workout

If you find regular walking tedious, you can make it a workout by incorporating a few moves or new types of walking. You can try interval walking or reverse walking to challenge yourself.

You can add some hand exercise to work your arms and shoulders while walking. You can walk with weights to improve your strength and endurance with each step.

Social and lead images credits: Freepik

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