How to improve your walking posture

Walking is a great form of exercise that's easy on the body's joints. But you can make walking even more effective while putting even less strain on your joints with a proper walking posture. Along with how to improve your walking posture, here's some information about fitting walking into your day.

• Shoulders: Keep them relaxed, down and slightly back. If you feel them hunching up toward your ears, take a deep breath and drop them down again.
• Arms: Bend your arms and keep your elbows close to your body. Swing your arms from the shoulders, raising them toward your chest so that they are in line with your hips.
• Back: Stand up straight, not hunched forward or arched backward.
• Head: Imagine that a string is attached to the top of your head, pulling your crown straight toward the sky. Your chin will naturally lift so your ears are directly in line with your shoulders.
• Chest: Yoga practitioners often refer to the area on the front of your breastbone as your "heart light." When you walk, keep this area lifted and pointing forward.
• Abdominals: Pull your belly button toward your spine as though you were zipping up a snug pair of pants. Keep your abdominals firm as you walk.
• Feet: As you take each step, plant your heel, roll onto the ball of your foot and push off with your toes. Avoid rolling your foot inward or outward. Although you can safely walk short distances in casual fashion shoes, wear good walking shoes whenever possible to protect your feet and joints. Your shoes should be designed for walking (or jogging, if walking shoes aren't available) and should feel great from the moment you buy them. For proper fit, be sure there's one finger-width between the end of your longest toe and the front of the inside of the shoe.
• Knees: Don't lock them. Keep them loose and pointing in the direction in which you're going.

Most of your steps will be woven into the natural fabric of your day but you should also devote 10 to 15 minutes daily to taking your heart for a purposeful, extended walk. But when you carve out a small chunk of time each day for walking, you're sure to get the minimum dose of weekly walking that's known to protect your heart. You'll also automatically take about a fifth of your recommended daily steps.

When researchers examined the activity levels of 7,307 men (whose average age was 66), they found that those who managed short daily bouts of walking and stair climbing burned as many calories as those who spent more time on recreational sports or leisure activities. They also found that those same men had similar reductions in heart disease risk.

Small steps, literally, add up to big gains.

Keep this information about making time for walking and tips for improving your walking posture in mind to help you get more out this simple, versatile exercise.