Healthy Living
5 Ways to Wake Up Your Walk
Stuck in a rut? Need inspiration? No problem! Get your activity steps in with these five creative ideas from fitness mentors and trainers that'll shake up your walking routine and make it way less boring.
1. Mix Up Your Moves. Stay on the course but mix up your steps with higher intensity moves to add some variety into your routine. For example, pause for a quick set of lunges or jumping jacks every few minutes. Or try powerwalking as quickly as you can for 30 seconds, then drop back to your regular walking pace for a minute. Repeat these tactics for the duration of your walk. You'll fight boredom and boost the cardiovascular benefits of your routine.
2. Practice Mindfulness. Incorporating reflective meditative practices into your walk can help dial down your daily stress levels. Mindful walking often includes focusing on breaths, keying into physical sensations, like the feeling of a breeze on your face, and directing thoughts to the present moment. Try it on your own or follow a meditation app to guide you through the process.
3. Play Photographer. Taking digital pictures along the way is a fun creative way to view your surroundings with fresh eyes and get your mind off the task of exercising. Assign yourself a theme, like try photographing as many flowers as possible, songbirds or insect types that you can find. Or schedule your walk during different times of the day to capture the glorious natural light of an early morning sun rise or a dusky evening sun set.
4. Tune-In to Your Tunes. Listening to your favorite music not only heightens one's overall enjoyment of a workout, but that pleasure increases as the workout goes on – pumping you up from start to finish. Choosing songs with fast upbeat tempos of 170–190 beats per minute may even help push you to boost your intensity level throughout your workout.
5. Count Chapters, Not Steps. Measuring your walk in minutes, steps, or miles can start to grind on you after a while. So, instead mark the distance with help from podcasts and audiobooks. Don't commit to a 2-mile walk but do choose to walk for "two chapters" or walk through a 30-minute episode of your favorite podcast. If on a treadmill, walk through one episode of your favorite show.
Get more activities