You enjoy walking and even have an exercise buddy to keep you on track. But maybe your enthusiasm has started to wane. The answer? Expand your workout circle and form a walking group in your community. By planning walks and encouraging one another, each member will have an impact on everyone else’s health. Createthegood.org offers simple steps to get started. First, see if there’s already a community-based organization that might join forces with you or offer ideas, information and resources. Maybe there’s a nonprofit that you’d like to support through a walk six or 12 months from now — check out its website to see if it offers planning pointers for fundraising events. Next, decide how wide a net you want to cast to recruit members. You might keep the group to people you know or extend it to include friends of friends. Hold a kick-off meeting and work out key details like the days and times the group will meet, how long you’ll walk each time and a list of routes that will keep things interesting. Set up a system for contacting one another by text or e-mail so you can send updates and reminders before each walk. If you’d rather join a group than start one, check out Walkwithadoc.org. Started in 2005 by David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio, it has chapters…  read on >

Wall sits, leg curls and leg lifts are three effective thigh exercises that don’t require any strength-training equipment — just your own body weight, so you can do them virtually anywhere, even at the office. Here’s how to exercise with proper form. Wall sits are also called the invisible chair. Stand with your back firmly against a wall and move your feet out in front of you by about one big step. Now slide your back down the wall, bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor and make a 90-degree angle with your upper body. Hold this position for up to 60 seconds. You may only be able to do a few seconds at first — gradually lengthen the hold over time. You may keep your arms along the wall for balance. To add to the challenge as you progress, hold them out in front of you. Aim for a set of three reps, and increase sets as you strengthen muscles. Now grab a real chair for leg curls. Stand behind the chair, flex your right foot and bring your right heel toward your butt. Hold briefly, then slowly lower the foot to the starting position. Repeat 10 times, then switch legs and repeat. Aim for three sets, or 30 curls, on each leg. To add to the challenge, you can…  read on >

Less than 10 minutes a day of brisk walking can help prevent disability in people with arthritis pain in their knee, hip, ankle or foot, researchers report. Just one hour a week of brisk physical activity “is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It’s very doable,” said lead study author Dorothy Dunlop. She’s a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity,” Dunlop added in a university news release. She and her team analyzed four years of data from more than 1,500 older adults in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and Pawtucket, R.I., who had pain, aching or stiffness in their lower joints from osteoarthritis but were initially free of disability. The participants’ levels of physical activity were monitored using a wearable device. An hour a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduced their risk of disability, the study found. Specifically, the activity reduced the risk of walking too slowly to safely cross a street by 85 percent, and their risk of not being able to do daily living activities — for example, morning routine tasks such as walking across a room, bathing and dressing — by nearly…  read on >

Want two moves that will effectively develop your lower body? Then add lunges and squats to your strength-training workout. These exercises primarily use your own body weight to effectively strengthen muscles, and can be adapted for both beginners and more advanced athletes. The lunge works the quads, hamstrings, glutes and, to a lesser degree, the lower leg muscles. Lunges can be done as a forward or reverse movement. The reverse is easier for beginners. Step backward with your left foot, extending the leg behind you as you bend the right knee until the right thigh is parallel with the floor or as close as feels comfortable. Press your right heel into the floor to bring yourself back to the starting position. When you want to progress, switch to the forward lunge. The left foot steps forward with the knee bending over the foot as you lower your right knee behind you. You can draw on your body weight or intensify results by holding hand weights. Whatever your level, repeat only as many times as you are able to do so with correct form. For beginners, that may be as few as five lunges with each leg. Build up to three sets of 10 to 20 reps on each leg. The squat targets the quads and hamstrings. Developing these muscles will help protect the knees. Stand…  read on >

Toned biceps not only give your upper body a sleek look, but they’re also vital for improving the upper body strength needed for daily living. The Single Biceps Curl is a simple classic and the perfect first exercise for strength training these muscles. You can start with a light weight and add more over time as you get stronger. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Your palms face inward, with the weight touching the outsides of your thighs. Start with the right arm. Rotate your wrist so that palm faces up, and then slowly lift the weight until it reaches your right shoulder. Maintain control — don’t jerk the weight. Slowly lower to starting position. As soon as the weight touches your thigh, repeat the curl with your left arm. Continue to alternate sides. Do 10 to 15 reps on each side for one complete set. Build from one to three sets before increasing the weight. As you progress, you can challenge yourself by curling both arms at the same time using either a pair of dumbbells or a single weight bar held in both hands. The variation called Concentration Curls focuses on one arm at a time. Sit on a bench, legs apart, feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, palm facing…  read on >