When you walk around the mall, you'll get more than you bargained for: A leg up on fitness. Mall walking is a perfect way to make exercise feel less like a chore and more a part of daily life. Shopping centers are heated in winter, air-conditioned in summer, safe, well lit, and free of snapping dogs and pollen. Not only will you burn calories and tone your legs, if you maintain good posture when you walk, you'll give your abs a workout. Keep yourself straight up while holding in your ab muscles; every step becomes a mini sit-up. Most of us lean forward when we walk, but we can catch ourselves easily at the mall: Just check your posture in your reflection in the windows.

Thanks for the kind words when I met my 2000 mile goal. You asked me if it was all running. It's actually mostly walking. Up until a couple of years ago I ran all the time, but I now have arthritis in my left hip and was advised by my doctor to do more non-weight bearing exercises like biking and swimming, and less running.

Thanks for developing this web site. It's very motivating and a great way to keep track of everything. My son introduced my husband, and I to it last year, and we both have really enjoyed it.

Thanks again for the web site.

I love the site.  It was an excellent idea.  I would never have walked on this cold day if it were not for the challenges.  I do have a question, in the summer I love to spend a lot of time in the peddle boat, can I count this under any of the categories? 

I watched the TV clip and it was terrific. You guys are off and running! I think that the TV station did a good job of writing the story, or editing the story that you told.

I read the article that Dean Woodbeck wrote for MTU Tech Topics almost a year ago and I saved it. It took a whole year to actually DO something about it, though!

One thing I would enjoy seeing is a count of the number of days of recorded activity in the month. I've been a sporadic exerciser for many years, and my goal this year is to turn this into a HABIT. Being the analyst that I am, seeing numbers and trends is a big motivator for me, so I am really enjoying your site.

I like this March Madness walking challenge.  I just saw it today.  The weather here has been bad, plus I have had to work late.  I walked today and was logging my miles when I saw the competition.  It was a pleasant surprise.  This website has been an inspiration to keep me walking.  I am telling my friends about it also. To everyone who has reached their first 100 mile goal congratulations. I hope to be there soon.

I have been saying to people, because of knee surgery in October and the fact I have to snowshoe instead of walk (and snowshoeing is a LOT slower that walking!), I set a new record for most days needed to reach the 100 mile goal!! But I did it, at least in part because of the website. Yes, it has helped. Writing to congratulate others who reached their goals helped me realize that I could do it too, kept me motivated.

I use the site to keep track of walking, strength training, and biking. I enjoy seeing how the other members are doing, how far they are walking and that they meet the goals. I like that the site keeps track of lots of different activities. The special events are fun to watch, too. I wish your message board was more active, but I guess people are all out walking!! The sense of community is nice, since I live in the middle of the woods in Maine and don't have a community handy! I am grateful the site is there. Oh, I also like the walking across the states aspect of the site. Another site I used to go to did a similar thing, but the miles walked did not match up to the miles they gave me (they gave way more than I walked, so it wasn't a true picture of how far I walked). I like how you do it.

I thank you for the work you do to run the site. It is making a difference in the amount I snowshoe/walk, thus it is making a difference in my life.

Thanks for the support and keep up the good work.

I found this site by googling "Walk Across America" hoping somebody had set up a way of translating daily walking miles into a cross-country virtual walk.  Health Walkers is even better than what I'd hoped for, very complete but not too complicated.  It's really kept me motivated. I'm more than half-way across Illinois (yeah, I started in my home state, not on the East Coast) then it's on to Iowa and points west!