February is the month of the heart - in more ways than one.  First, of course, there's the love, passion, and chocolate that (hopefully) accompanies Valentine's Day.  And let's not forget that it's Heart Health Month. The American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, five days a week, or 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, three days a week - or a combination of both.  My favorite way to cover all those bases, and keep my ticker tickin', is walking.  It's the no-excuses workout - and it's a Valentine you can give yourself year-round.  

Five Tips for a Heart Healthy Walk:

1.   Don't skip the warm up.

Warming up isn't for wimps.  Not only does it help prevent injury during any type of exercise, but it raises your body temperature, increases blood flow, and gets your heart rate going.  In other words, it puts your body into fat-burning mode.  So if you're planning a brisk 30-minute walk, start with an easy-to-moderate walk for 5 minutes, and prepare for takeoff.  And warming up can start from the inside out: I like to start my day with a cup of hot tea to heat up my system, and in the wintertime I drink a combination of hot water with lemon, ginger and cayenne - yep, aye carumba!  Electronic heating pads are also a great way to get engines running prior to your body walking.

2.  Double your calorie burn.

It's all about pace:  If a 150-pound woman walks 3 mph (at a 20-minute mile) for 3 miles, she burns 239 calories. But in the same amount of time, if she ups the ante to 5 mph (12 minutes per mile), she'll burn 545.  That's a pretty good reason to kick things up a notch.

3.  Gossip on the go.

Walking is a great social activity to share with friends and family.  I have some of my best heart-to-hearts on walks with my girlfriends.  And the "talk test" is the easiest and least technical way to monitor intensity. You should be walking hard enough so that you can talk, but find it a little bit difficult to carry on a conversation. You may need to take deep breaths between sentences, for example. If you're so out of breath that you can't complete a sentence, pull back the intensity a bit. If you're chatting as easily as if you were sitting on the couch, get moving!  But for many of us, finding that motivation is easier said than done - so here's a tidbit to keep in mind:  A 20-year Nurses' Health Study of 72,000 nurses revealed that brisk walking may reduce risk of heart disease in women by 30% to 40%.  So remember, those walks are cutting down on more than just traffic.  Just make sure you save the juicy parts of your story for the cool down phase!

4.  Feel the need for speed.

This is one way you can dramatically increase the number of calories burned.  Try a few cycles of 3-minute aerobic intervals:  For 3 minutes, push yourself until you're working at a 6 or 7 (on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the hardest), and then recover for a full minute back at a 3.  Repeat this a few times - and if you get to the recovery period and don't really "need" it, that means you need to work a little harder in the intervals.  Now that's how you turn your walk into a workout.  Want to take these results to the next level?  Try walking on a slightly uneven path, like a hiking trail.  The balancing aspect can crank up your calorie burn by as much as 80%!  And if that trail is on an incline, even better - you'll give your legs and butt some extra sculpt-friendly work to do, while burning even more calories in the process.

5.  Focus on form.

Don't forget the importance of posture and head position.  Stand tall, imagine a string coming from the top of your head pulling you up. Then tilt your body forward slightly from the ankles, not the hips or waist. Don't arch your lower back or stick your butt out. Keep your spine in a neutral position by contracting your abdominals.  Don't tilt your head from side to side, and don't drop your chin forward. Your eyes should focus straight ahead and not on your feet, so you don't strain your neck.  Most importantly, use those arms:  Keep them strong and engaged, held at 90-degree angles - not only will it help keep you moving (since the faster your arms move, the faster your legs will go, too), but you'll burn up to 5% to 10% more calories.