5 Essential Walking Tips

By: Kathryn O'Neill

Walking exercise is one of the easiest ways to get in shape and burn fat. In fact, mile for mile, you can burn as many calories walking as you would jogging. It's also one of the best stress relieving exercises that anyone can do, regardless of fitness level.

Want to start a walking exercise program? Here are 5 tips to help you get the most walking bang for your buck:

1) Get your arms pumping.

Bring your upper body into your workout by pumping your arms. This is an easy way to burn more calories while walking. If you want to tone up and use more arm muscle during your workout, try carrying 2 - 5 pound handweights.

Bonus Benefit: pumping your arms propels you forward and helps you move faster - which means more distance covered and more calories burned!

2) Build in incline intervals.

Walking on an incline is one of the fastest ways to drastically skyrocket your calorie burn. But you don't have to spend your whole workout on an incline. Try building in 30 - 60 second intervals of incline walking on your treadmill every 5 to 10 minutes.

If you're walking outside and can't control your incline, try stopping every few minutes and doing 10 - 15 squats or lunges to tone your lower body.

Bonus Benefit: Building in intervals will also help your body continue to burn calories post-workout.

3) Increase your pace, not your stride

Got short legs? No problem! Instead of increasing your stride (and possibly pulling something), increase the number of steps you take. This also increases your speed which means more distance covered and more calories burned.

4) Invest in a pair of excellent walking shoes

Walking in poor shoes can cause damage to your feet, knees, hips, joints and back. Wear poor shoes and you may not be walking for a long time!

If you want to feel great after a walking workout (and be ready for the next one tomorrow), make sure you have the best possible walking shoes you can afford.

Bonus Benefit: A solid pair of walking shoes can actually help you lengthen the time that you walk, which again means more calories burned.

5) Take plenty of time to warm up and stretch to avoid injury.

Walking is one of the best exercises you can do for stress relief and long term fat loss. However there's this little thing called shinsplints that can threaten to put you out of walking commission for a while.


Many walkers and runners struggle with this problem. This constant repetitive flexing of the shin muscle can create soreness when a walker increases their speed or distance.

To help ward off shin splints or other muscle injury, take plenty of time to warm up before you really get into your workout.

Also, make sure you stretch. Pointing and flexing your foot helps stretch and build the shin muscle. Ankle rotations also help with this. Stretching properly will definitely keep you happy and walking for a long time to come!

So there you have it - 5 essential walking exercise tips. Keep these in mind and you're guaranteed to enjoy many stress-relieving, fat burning walks!

Good Healthy Habits

Good health is of prime importance to all of us. We need to be healthy, filled with abundant energy, sound sleep, and fit and disease free body, which will give us a sense of overall well being. In order to be fit and healthy we need to practice healthy living styles with proper food habits and exercise. We cannot be healthy if we are lazy and lethargic. We need to work hard both physically and mentally to be fit and healthy. Besides exercise, we also need to eat healthy foodstuffs avoiding junk foods, which make us lethargic and dull. If you are over weight and obese you will suffer from health problems. So you need to maintain an optimum body weight to be healthy.

You need to follow healthy and positive habits. Positive thinking is very essential in order to be healthy. You need to clear out your mind and fill it with positive thoughts. You will have to remove all the depressing and negative emotions and thoughts from your mind and replace it with healthy and positive thoughts. These positive thoughts can be extremely energizing and always lead to good things in life. You can get involved in practices such as meditation and yoga to get rid of the negativity and force yourself with positive thoughts.


You need to eat healthy foods in order to be fit and healthy. Simple food stuffs like vegetables, fruits, nuts, tubers, lean meat, pulses, ect can keep you healthy and strong. Try to avoid refined foodstuffs. The main reason for ill health and diseases is improper food habits. Because of this many people suffer from diseases like diabetes, cancer, obesity ect. Simple changes in your diet and causes a great difference within a short period and can improve your health drastically. Try to avoid smoking and alcoholic drinks.

For good health, you need to exercise daily. Exercising in the morning can leave you with a refreshed feeling throughout the day. Exercising can put you in a good mood and it will be easier for you to think positively and eat healthy foods. You can also get involved in activities such as swimming, biking, walking or playing your favorite sport in order to keep you healthy .Do not go for an activity which you do not enjoy. Try to do your work outs in the open air. In this way you will feel more refreshed. You should not make drastic changes in your life style. You should start with simple changes and make sure that you enjoy it. You try to make these simple changes in to a regular habit in order to achieve long term success.

It is very important to improve your health in order to be happy and enjoy life. Besides exercise you need to have good sleep and rest in order to be healthy. Sound sleep can refresh your mind and make you feel healthy .All these simple changes in your life style can improve your health and make you feel strong and fit. You will feel a sense of well being, both emotionally and physically.

Loves Families? Stop Smooking!

You have probably heard this more times, than you can count but facts are facts! There is no other way to say it – smoking is not only bad for your health, it is deadly! One woman in her late thirties had smoked for 10 years. She had tried everything from watering down her cigarettes, throwing them away, wearing a patch, chewing gum, you name it, she tried it. She really wanted to quit but the addiction was so strong she was finding it impossible.

The mother of an 11-year old daughter and a 13-year old son, she was taken by surprise when something happened that made her quit smoking in one day. Her son told her that he had something very important to tell her. With a quick response of, “Okay, what is it?” he said, “No, I really need to talk to you.” She knew by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that this was something important. Her son looked her square in the face and without wavering said, “I want you to quit smoking because I don’t want you to die. I want a mother in my life.” With that, she walked over to an ashtray, put out her cigarette, and now almost seven years later, she still does not smoke. While this will not work for everyone, the next time you pick up a cigarette; take a minute to consider how your child or family would feel if you were no longer around.

How to reduce stress

By Robert E Dallas

1, Eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruits.

2, Drink plenty of water. Minimum of 8 glasses per day.

3, Read good books to divert mind.

4, Quit smoking and alcohol consumption

5, Make a ‘To do list’ and a time table for each day well in advance.

6, Share your feelings with friends and loved ones.

7, Forgive others. Don’t remain angry for long .Be frank and
open-minded.

8, Concentrate on hobbies.

9, Take breaks in between work. Don’t work too long .

10, Get enough rest. Sleep at least 7 hrs a day.


11, Get a body massage done by an experienced masseur.

12, Laugh and develop a sense of humor.

13, Exercise regularly.

14, Think positively.

15, Wear your favorite clothes and dress up well.

16, Set reasonable goals.

17, Contribute to a good cause.

18, Love and respect yourself and others.

19, Have safe ,protected sex.

20, Try visualization .Visualization is similar to Daydreaming. But
done in a systematic manner. Follow the steps
mentioned below to gain maximum benefits from visualization.


A, Find a quiet room or place without any disturbances. No radios,
televisions, or Mobile phones.

B, Become aware of your breathing and notice how the diaphragm expands
and contracts as you breathe.

C, Make a mental picture of tension in your muscles - see a clenched
fist or a tightly contorted facial muscle.

D, Watch the fist open, the face smooth out. Move
down the body from head to toes, visualizing tight muscles and seeing
them relax and smooth out.

E, Imagine yourself in a beautiful garden, a sunny golden beach, in
green, scented woods, or in any place which for you like the most. If
you don’t have such a place invents one.

G, Now Imagine about all sweet and happy things you want to happen in
life. Example becoming very rich person, Becoming a world famous sports
person, or spending a holiday with your favorite celebrity

To be successful, visualization must be practiced for twenty
minutes at a time, Once a day. “The subconscious mind doesn’t
know the difference between the real and the imaginary.”
Hence makes you feel happy.