Look up when walking. Do you walk looking down with your head bowed, staring at your feet? This is a bad posture. A good posture allows you to breathe well and have a straight body line. This avoids tension in the back, neck and shoulders. Walk with your chin up. It should be parallel to the ground. Focus your eyes on the road three to seven metres ahead.

Do not walk on all the days of the week. Some persons get addicted to walking. They walk even when they do not feel like walking. Small wonder then that they end up with aches and pains. Do not overdo walking. Take a day off from it once a week. It will allow time to your body to repair itself, build up muscle and store energy.

Avoid leaning and swaying when walking. Whether you lean forward or backward while walking, it can cause back pain. So walk standing erect with relaxed shoulders, chin up and parallel to the ground. In short, walk tall. Let your back have a natural curve when you walk.

Neither wear too much nor too little clothing. For walking comfortably, dress in layers. The inner layer should be such that it allows sweat to evaporate. Cotton holds sweat next to the skin, so avoid it. The next layer should be insulating — a shirt or sweater (in winter) that can be easily removed if you feel warn. In the rainy season, water-proof or water-resistant outer clothing is helpful.

Roll through the step with your forward foot. While walking do you land with a flat foot with each step and get no roll? If so, you can develop shin pain. This can happen if your shins are too weak to let you roll through the step. The way out is to look for a pair of flexible shoes that bend at the ball of the foot. Low-heel, light-weight running shoes are the best bet.

But how to strengthen the shin, ankle and lower leg? Stand on a stair facing upstairs with your heels hanging over the edge. Next, dip the heels down and then raise them high ten to twenty times. The best way to practice walking on heels is to use it as part of your daily warm-up exercise for at least 30 seconds prior to setting out on your walk.

Keep your elbows close to the body. When you swing your arms back and forth while walking, keep your elbows close to your body. When your arms go back it should look as if you are going to reach your backpocket. And when your hands come forward, they should not cross the centre line of your body. Rather they should come no further than your breasts.

This motion lets you concentrate on the power from your rear leg without wasting motion in the front of your body. Most walkers swing their arms side to side, crossing the centre of their body and extending out. They can hit a passerby. Also, as your fists come up on each swing past your breast, you can hit your chin, and sometimes, even your nose.

Don’t keep your arms still at your sides. Some walkers make the mistake of either letting their arms stay at their sides or swing them without bending them. This causes their hands to swell during walking.

In normal walking, use the arm swings to counterbalance the leg motion. An efficient walker adds power and speed by properly swinging the arms. Contrarily, long straight arms slow you down. Hence to walk right, bend your arms at a ninety-degree angle and swing them naturally back and forth, opposing the leg motion.

Drink a glass of water every hour. Most walkers do not drink enough water before, during or after walking. Thus, they risk being dehydrated. For that reason, drink a glass of water every twenty minutes during the walk. After you finish walking, drink one or two glasses of water again.

Do not take a caffeinated drink before you go out for a walk. It can cause you to lose fluid, make you feel thirsty more often.