Walking lowers disease risk

When John Cleese highstepped across the TV screen in a “Monty Python” sketch called “The Ministry of Silly Walks,” it seemed absurdly funny. But he just might have been onto something. A daily walking routine can get boring — and when you’re bored, it’s harder to stick to your workout schedule.

Before exploring how to make daily walk-ercise more fun, here’s why you want to keep on walking the walk: It lowers lousy LDL cholesterol levels, helps control blood sugar, blood pressure and stress, and reduces your risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression. Plus you burn calories and build muscle.

So here’s how to put some pep in your steps:

1. Try interval walking: 30 seconds to three minutes of walking quickly with three to five minutes of walking at a regular pace repeated over the course of your 30 to 60+ minute walk.

2. Use Nordic walking poles to increase upper body engagement and calorie burn.

3. Do meditative walking. Focus on your breathing — a count of four to inhale, count of eight, slowly, to exhale. Or try mindful walking. Notice the feel of the air on your skin, listen to the wind in the trees. Let thoughts enter your mind and drift away. Don’t do these while simultaneously doing Nos. 1 or 2! If you add 15 minutes of these calming techniques at the end of a walk, however, you’ll cool down and cool out.

4. For more tips, check out sharecare.com and search, “How can I make my exercise less boring?”