Who Says a Walk Can’t Be a Workout?

Use your environment.

As you walk, Evans said, look for ways to build in a little more activity. When we passed a park bench, he suggested we do a few squats. (“Get up, sit back down.”) Another option: Stop and do 10 standing calf raises. (Raise your heels slowly, hold for a few seconds, and then lower your heels back to the ground.)

Change up your pace and route.

You can boost your workout by walking on different terrain, Dr. Dufek said. “It is harder to walk on loose trail dirt than on a sidewalk,” she said. If you can go to the beach, Dr. Dufek added, dry sand is “an extreme walking surface” that requires more effort.

You can also vary your intensity and speed, she said. Pick up the pace for 30 seconds, she said, and then recover for three minutes.

If you’re with a friend, consider a contest.

If you’re walking with someone, try engaging in “a little friendly competition,” Evans said. “You can say, ‘All right, the last person to the stoplight — and you got to walk, no running — buys coffee.’”

Count dogs instead of minutes.

To build endurance and keep on the trail longer, don’t fixate on time, Evans said. Instead, he suggested counting “all the dogs you see, and make it a goal not to go home until you see 25 dogs.” Or you can count stoplights, he said, or fire hydrants. “Make it fun,” he said.

As Evans and I walked along, we pointed out pups to each other. At the end of our walk, we sat on a bench and totaled up everything we’d seen. Ten dogs. Two hot dog vendors. And, Evans reminded me, one shirtless guy on a unicycle.

“If you’re counting shirtless guys on unicycles instead of dogs,” he said, “your walk may be shorter.”