Using technology to exercise and get fit

Walk before you run
Whatever your fitness level, walking is a great activity. A frequent quick-paced walk will meet the minimum recommended exercise level for adults of 30 minutes' moderate exercise at least five times a week.

The Ramblers can help you find organised walks in your area, or you can use the tools on its website to plan a local walk that tailors a route to your interests.

Google Maps can help you set a route and work out how long it is. Open the site in your browser and search for the starting point of your walk using the search window.

Now click the option labelled My Maps in the left-hand column; a new option labelled ‘Create new map’ will appear so click it. Three new tools appear at the top-left of the map.

You can use the blue balloon to select the start and end points, and any points in between. You can apply a label to each and even upload a photograph. The tool that looks like a squiggly ‘N’ can be used to work out the distance from point to point.

Select the tool, click the starting position and then click at each left or right turn you want to make to build a route. At each click, a label appears above your mouse pointer that tells you the precise distance of the route.

Find out more about how to customise Google Maps in our step-by-step guide. We found the terrain view best for planning routes across open country. As your fitness increases and you want more of a challenge, you can edit or adapt previous routes to increase your distance.