Walking is the safest exercise on dry land; its benefits include cardiovascular conditioning, strength training and aerobic exercise.

People who walk often live longer, drastically reducing their risk of death from all disease. Walking is low impact and ideal for those recovering from illness or injury. Take shorter, more frequent walks to build your strength, then add time to your walking workouts or add weight for increased muscle building. Fitness walking speed of three miles per hour takes time and experience, so beginners should start at a slower pace and work up.
Walk outside or indoors in bad weather, on a treadmill with an adjustable incline. Routine walking with your family after meals builds family harmony along with fitness crucial for parents and kids. Take the following tips along with you!
1. Start Slow and Then Stretch. Walking is a great beginning warm up for any other exercise, as it loosens the large muscles and gives you an all over warmth. Start out at a gentle pace for ten minutes; stop for stretching once your muscles are warm. Stretch your toes, ankles, calves, and quads every time you walk.

2. Tighten Your Tush When Walking for Fitness. Long steps work your leg muscles, but to exercise your buttocks (called the gluteus maximus muscles, or “glutes”), take shorter steps in quicker succession.

3. Use Good Walking Form - Heel to Toe. Your heel should hit the ground first, rolling across your foot and pushing off again from the big toe. Walking like this helps you maximize your forward motion, propelling you forward.

4. Tummy Tightening During Your Cardiovascular Workout. While you’re walking, sitting or just hanging around, maintain good posture with a straight stance and tightened abdominal muscles for a flattened tummy and a stronger lower back.

5. Power up those Arms for Maximum Calorie Burning. If you were cross country skiing, you’d be holding poles and pushing your elbows back with every step. You can get similar effects on upper and lower arms by pumping your arms behind and forward while you walk. Poles are optional!

6. Keep Your Body and Muscles Contracted. How would you walk if you were trying to keep a hundred dollar bill clenched between your glutes? To keep your lower back strong and for the tight glutes of a power walker, lift and squeeze the muscles of your backside and keep it tight while you’re walking.

7. Good Walking Posture Counts. Walking helps keep your muscles strong, but only if you give them the proper configuration to start with. Keep your shoulders back and your chest out with a tight tummy and derriere.

8. Support Your Neck. For proper neck alignment, keep your eyes on the road about ten feet in front of you.

9. Enjoy Your Walk and Breath. In walking for physical fitness, think about what you’re doing to reap full benefits of the exercise. Get a walking partner for the days when you’re tempted to skip your workout. Buy comfy walking clothes and good walking shoes. Different routes keep things interesting.

10. Walk, Don’t Worry About the Daily Stresses. It can be easy to fall into the habit of fretting while you walk, but if you want to get all the physical and mental benefits of hitting the road, pay attention instead to your breathing and the way you feel physically.
Seasoned athletes know that visualization creates changes in their form and in the body: imagine your individual muscles toned, the weight loss you want to achieve or the new body you’ll see in a few short weeks of a power walking program. Focus on cardiovascular health by imagining your heart getting stronger, pumping more blood and oxygenating your body. Keep a log of your goals.

http://www.aboutaerobics.com/walking-workout.html

As our lives become more complex, we need creative time-management twists to juggle all the things we want to do. This article will give you tips on how to fit exercise into your busy schedule, even if you have a sedentary lifestyle.

The first step is to drop the all-or-nothing, perfectionistic thinking that says “It has to be at a gym. It doesn’t count if you don’t breathe hard. It doesn’t count if you don’t do it for at least 30 minutes non-stop etc. Any physical activity is more beneficial than NO physical activity. So open your mind and let’s create new solutions.

We all get stuck from time to time sitting at our computers, waiting for one thing or another:

*Long print jobs
*Slow or large downloads
*Large files to open
*Inspiration on what to write or do next
*”Instant” messages
*iPod Updates

Here’s how you can put that time to use:

1. Get a medicine ball and/or exercise band at your local sporting goods store or on-line.

2. Put these items near your computer in an easy to reach location.

3. Begin compiling a stack of exercise ideas from magazines or books which you will also keep near your computer (consider starting a three-ring binder so you can easily find the book and flip through it at will).

4. When you encounter a wait period (or just need a little break), do a set of arm or leg exercises. Here’s a list of ideas to get you started:

Chest Press: Strap an exercise tube around the back of your office chair and do occasional chest presses. Hold one handle in each hand and position your hands so they are at chest level. Sit up straight. Push forward and extend your arms straight in front of you or, for variation, cross your hands in front of you. Repeat 10-15 times or until you become fatigued.

Overhead Tricep Lifts: Hold a 3-5 pound medicine ball in both hands. Lift it over your head with arms extended. Bend at the elbows and slowly lower the ball so that it ends up behind your neck. Continue lifting the ball from behind your neck to over your head. Use slow, steady, controlled movements. Repeat 8-10 times or until you become fatigued.

Bicep Curls: Depending on your strength level, you can use one or both arms for this exercise. Hold the medicine ball in your hands in front of you as if you are offering a gift to someone or holding a large cup or bowl in your hands. Your arms should be in an “L” shaped position at your sides. Bring the ball up to your chest slowly and then back down slowly. If you are strong enough, you can also do one arm at a time lifting the ball from the “L” shaped position up to your shoulder and back down again. Repeat 12-15 times or until you become fatigued. Perform equal amounts of repetitions for each arm.

Leg Lifts: Stretch your legs out in front of you and put your ankles and feet together. Place the medicine ball in the cradle created by your ankles so that the ball is resting on the top of your foot and your lower leg at the same time. Depending on your strength level, you can do this exercise a variety of ways:

Lower Leg Lifts: Lift your legs from the floor until they are almost completely extended. Maintain a small bend in the knees, do not lock your knees. For more of a challenge, hold your legs in the lifted position until you begin to feel your muscles shake or burn, then lower. Repeat 10-15 times.

Full Leg Lifts: Scoot up in your chair so that your buttocks are almost at the edge of your seat. Put your hands on the armrest to support your body. Extend your legs in front of you with your knees slightly bent. Lift your legs as high as you can off the ground. For extra challenge, hold your legs in place before lowering. Be sure to continue sitting up straight as you do this exercise and hold in your abdominal muscles for support.

http://www.removedarkcircles.com/beautytips/freeexercisetips.htm

Look 5 pounds slimmer without losing an ounce or doing a single crunch.

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100164999&GT1=10317

Imagine if your belly always looked as good as it does when you turn sideways in the mirror and suck it in. Ab exercises can help, but 5—or even 50—minutes of crunches won’t do any good if you’re letting it all hang out for the remaining 23 hours of the day.
One of the abdominal muscles’ biggest jobs is to hold our bodies upright, and research shows that rampant poor posture puts these muscles to sleep, leaving Americans in a constant belly-bulging slump. It’s a particularly pesky problem for women who’ve had children. Stretched ab muscles and carrying kids can make it difficult to stand up straight for years after delivery.
The good news: “Correcting poor posture can make you look 5 pounds slimmer instantly,” says Deborah L. Mullen, a certified strength and conditioning specialist in San Luis Obispo, CA. To keep that trim profile 24-7, you need to retrain and strengthen those belly-slimming, stand-tall muscles, so Prevention went to the nation’s top posture pros for their best advice.

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100164999&GT1=10317