Whether it’s the summer heat or the summer doldrums, you may be having trouble motivating yourself to go on daily walks these days. While we’ve certainly touted the benefits of a walking routine to support healthy aging, after a while the same routine may get a little dull and won’t do the job to lure you outside to be active. Yet, more than ever, the evidence is mounting that being physically active is beneficial to both healthy aging and longevity. Just recently, a new study was published in the American Heart Association’s journal, Circulation that analyzed the health records of over 100,000 participants over a 30-year period, and found that those whose exercise routines exceed current recommended guidelines actually live longer than those who just meet the guidelines or exercise less. This new study reports that those who exercise vigorously for 150-300 minutes each week (twice as long as current recommendations), or moderately vigorously for 300-600 minutes each week had the highest reduction in early mortality. Bottom line? There’s an association between the time and intensity of your exercise with reduced rates of mortality. So get up, get moving, and read more here.

What can you do to jazz up your current walking routine to amp up the intensity and the time you put into it? According to a recent article in The New York Times, you can add some music to get you moving, create some curiosity by changing your location each day, or add some bursts of high intensity to get your heart rate going, followed by a slow-down, and then repeat. Those moments of higher intensity are extremely valuable for helping you get the most out of your workout. One other thing you can try is to strap on a fitness tracker. A recent study published in Lancet Digital Health reports that wearing a tracker encourages us to walk up to 40 more minutes each day. To find out more, grab your Fitbit and click here, and for some recommendations of the best fitness trackers for women, read here.

But perhaps the newest craze to jump-start your walking routine comes from Finland, the originators of Nordic walking, which we’ve previously described in agebuzz and is now on the cusp of being fully embraced in the US. Somewhat akin to cross-country skiing, sans snow, Nordic walking has recently been promoted due to a new study in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, which found that compared to other high-intensity exercises, Nordic walking, (which involves the whole body and not just your legs) may be the key to better cardiovascular health. Using poles with rubber tips, Nordic walking has lots of benefits over normal walking, especially if you pick up your pace and really engage with the poles as you stride. You can burn more calories, improve your core strength (important for balance), and can even increase your walking speed up to 25%. In fact, if done correctly, it’s thought that Nordic walking can engage up to 90% of your body’s muscles– talk about a full-body workout! So jazz up your journey with some snazzy poles and get moving farther and faster when out for your next walk.