1.	Walk with great posture. This is in reality so simple, but it takes some concentration. We all know that we look better and slimmer if we walk with great posture, but if you “walk tall” you will also increase the effectiveness of your walk. Think of this when you walk: walk as if you are naked! No, we don’t mean duck-and-cover, but think about “holding everything in” as you walk. When you suck in your gut, you will walk with better posture while strengthening your abdominal muscles. We all could use a boost to our abdominal muscles – they are the muscles that greatly support our lower backs and help prevent injury.
2.	Find your stride. Often people think if they’re going to walk more/better/faster they need to take long strides. The best way to become a fast walker or to get a better workout is actually to take short quick strides.
3.	Push off for speed. You probably know that race walkers have perfected speed in the walking arena. Some can walk faster than a 5.5-minute mile! Here’s one of their sneaky tricks: Each time they stride they concentrate on pushing off harder on the back foot. Think of it as scraping gum off the bottom of your shoe – with a push. This action will not only make you faster, but work the gluteal and hamstring muscles even more than normal.
4.	Get your arms into the act. If you keep your arms in a 90-degree angle while pumping them as you walk, you’ll turn a lower body workout into a total body workout. Just make sure that your backswing on your arm is powerful: Feel the tug. On your forward swing make sure that your arms don’t cross your midline and that your hands don’t swing higher than the lower end of your sternum.
5.	Walk the line. Again this is another tip from race walking. Race walkers (and others) know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so race walkers train themselves to walk on an imaginary straight line. Normally when we walk our feet walk a parallel path. Do this: imagine that there is a 3-inch wide line in your path when you walk. Lining up your feet on that line will not only get you from point A to point B faster, it will work your inner thighs as well!