Walking is becoming more widely recognised as one of the best ways to take exercise. It’s an enjoyable, low impact, low injury risk exercise with the possibility for the introduction of a social element as well. It’s the ideal exercise for anyone who is new to exercise or who hasn’t taken regular exercise for a while.

It doesn’t require any special training or equipment and you can do it wherever and whenever you like. It’s also a very cost effective way to exercise. There are no expensive monthly membership fees to pay, so getting in shape won’t bankrupt you.

Just as with other physical activities, you will use up additional calories when you are actively engaged in walking. However, the really good news is that you will also increase you metabolic rate. This means that you will use calories more quickly during the day, regardless of what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter if you’re reading a book, sitting watching TV, listening to the radio or even when your asleep – you will burn calories faster.

Walking on a regular basis offers many health benefits in addition to weight loss. Your heart will be strengthened and your blood circulation will improve as walking increases oxygen intake in the blood. It can help to reduce your blood pressure level, increase your lung capacity and it even helps to fight depression and anxiety. The risk of contracting certain types of cancer is also considerably lower for regular walkers. Walking will provide you with more energy and will help you to sleep better. The full list of health benefits is too long to include in full. Walking is better than any miracle drug or wonder health supplement.

One good way to make sure your walking sessions are fun is to make it a social event. Go for a walk around the block with some of your work colleagues during your lunch break – or walk around your neighbourhood or local park with neighbours, friends and family members in the evening. If you prefer, you can just take your dog for a nice long walk.

Listening to music while you walk can also make the miles and the time fly by that much faster. If you don’t already have one, an mp3 player is a sound investment. Be careful not to turn the volume up too high and pay attention to traffic, especially if you’re in a busy location.

Fitness footwear technology has seen some interesting new developments of late. You can now choose from a range of “toning” shoes such as Fit flops sandals, Skechers Shape Ups shoes, Masai Barefoot Technology shoes and Reebok Easy Tones exercise shoes. These all claim to increase the efficiency of your walking exercise program by making your lower body muscles work a little harder when you’re walking. They generally have special soles which either replicate the effect of walking on soft sand or produce an element of imbalance which forces your lower body muscles to work harder.

If you find it difficult to keep motivated to walk, then you might consider trying a pedometer. An Omron pedometer is accurate to within 5% and will display your progress in terms of steps taken, calories used or distance covered. Health professionals generally agree that we should aim for 10,000 steps a day in order to secure significant health benefits. Carrying your pedometer throughout the day will encourage you to actively look for new ways to get your daily step count up.