“Go take a walk!”

We’ve all heard that bit of advice — or given it — at some point. Especially in Hawaii, with our great weather and beautiful scenery, it’s convenient, easy and fun.

The reasons to do it are obvious. According to AARP, researchers have found that walking can lower your mortality risk, preserve memory, help control weight and sleep, reduce the potential for eye problems and improve your mood, among many other benefits.

But what if the walk around the block, or the hike on the familiar trail, is getting a little monotonous? Are there other activities you combine with your walking to make it fun again? Here are three options available on Oahu and the groups that can help you put some purpose into your paces.

Walk with a Doc

The focus of walking is primarily on health, so what better way to combine the two than taking a walk with a doctor? That’s what Walk with a Doc offers.

Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist based in Columbus, Ohio, launched the program in 2005 after becoming frustrated with being unable to connect with patients in a clinical setting. Walk with a Doc, now an international nonprofit organization, has chapters in Central Oahu and in Aiea.

Dr. Theresa Wee, a pediatrician, founded the Central Oahu chapter nine years ago and leads walks of up to 1.7 miles at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park starting at 8 a.m. every Saturday — “rain or shine,” she said.

“Walking is the best activity for any age, any fitness level. You’re in nature, and there’s so many positive studies that come out about being in nature, and destressing, just calming down,” she said.

Her walks start with a health tip of the week. One recent tip was about the “5-second rule”: If you have an idea to do something, like household chores or exercise, it was best to get up and start doing it within five seconds. Any longer, and it would be easy to skip it. “You’re body is wired not to go,” she said.

One of her regulars on the walks is Patty Menor, wife of the late longtime local politician Ron Menor, who was a big supporter of Wee’s walks. “I enjoy the wellness tips, which are so good,” she said. “There was one about sleeping, nutrition, mindfulness. She touches every topic to keep you healthy, the whole body, the whole person.”

Gladys Sasaki, a regular walker with the group, said Wee’s best advice was to “watch what we eat, and to do it consistently.”

At age 93, she calls Wee her “inspiration.” “I go the Y, but this is special because of Dr. Wee,” she said.

Walkers can also help develop the future of Hawaii health care with the Walk with a Future Doc, a program led by first-year medical students D-Dre Wright and Sarah Bellatti at the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaako. They walk with the community at 9 a.m. on the fourth Sunday of every month, starting at Kakaako Waterfront Park.

“We do some stretching, we give an overview of a health topic that one of the students chooses and presents on,” Bellatti said. “We walk a lap around the park, and mingle, the doctors and students and community members, and then we have a little raffle and have a good time.”

The students often face questions about nutrition during the walk, as well as questions from pre-med students about “how to get into med school,” she said. “Are you enjoying it? Is it worth it? And yes, it definitely is.”

Wright said out of all the benefits of walking, the chief one for her is the “social connection — walking with others outside.”

“We’ve all been in this pandemic. We’ve been incredibly isolated, even our jobs are isolating,” she said. “Being outside, in nature, with others, is a huge mental help.”

To find out more about programs in Hawaii, visit 808ne.ws/walkwithdoc.

Walking Soccer

Lionel Messi, the great ­Argentine soccer star, is known for walking a lot during games, scanning the field looking for scoring opportunities before sprinting into the open. But you don’t need to sprint if you play Walking Soccer, which started in 2011 in England and is growing in popularity in the U.S.

The basic rules are simple: maximum seven players to a side; at least one foot on the ground at all times, though a heel-to-toe power-walking style is allowed; no high kicks, headers or bodily contact on purpose. Played on a small field with a small goal, the game is otherwise just like regular soccer.

“It sounds kind of dumb, but it’s so much fun,” said Kate O’Malley, a longtime soccer player and referee on Oahu who organizes Walking Soccer games. “You’re moving, but you don’t have the jarring impact on the knees.”

Games are held regularly at the Waipio Soccer Complex, Field 4, starting around 2:30 p.m. Saturdays. (Aside from tournaments scheduled for Saturday and Aug. 12, games are scheduled through August.) One recent weekend, a group got together in Waipio for a game. Several of the players, including Mimi Yano and Shelly Bonoan, said they got into the game because they got injured playing running soccer and found that Walking Soccer helped their rehabilitation.

“It’s basically just soccer, but it’s friendlier,” said Bonoan. “It’s almost a kind of relaxed way of playing soccer. For enthusiasts like all of us here, it keeps us on the pitch.”

John Keawe comes to the games properly equipped, with soccer shorts and cleats, his shinguards held in place by high socks. Players are also asked to bring one light- and one dark-colored shirt to be able to switch teams. “You can get a really good cardio workout, but you don’t get that pounding on your body, your knees,” he said.

One of the more accomplished players, Theresa Bennett, played high school, college and club soccer. This day, she put her ballhandling and distribution skills on display. “I love it,” she said of Walking Soccer. “It gives everyone a chance, especially those who can’t play so much in really competitive games. There’s still a place for everybody to have fellowship and go and kick the ball around, not the competitive craziness that you find around here. I like to get the ball to others and let them shine.”

For the last two years, Walking Soccer has been included in the Mayor’s Gold Cup, a soccer tournament for older adults held in Waipio every winter. It’s a high-spirited event that gets players motivated and competitive, O’Malley said.

“You start to realize, ‘Wait, this walking soccer isn’t leisurely walking,’ ” O’Malley said. “You’re constantly moving.”

For more information, visit 808ne.ws/walkingsoccer.

Walk the dog(s)

The Hawaiian Humane Society has had a longtime program for community volunteers to take dogs for a walk. Most of the walks are 15-minute trips around a path at the society’s 2-1/2-acre campus in Moiliili, but if a more docile animal is paired up with an experienced walker, they can stroll nearby streets. To qualify, dog walkers undergo a training program with the Humane Society and commit to at least one three-hour shift per week, from either 7 to 10 a.m. or 3 to 6 p.m.

The need for walkers has never been greater, said HHS communications manager Brandy Shimabukuro, since the rising cost of caring for an animal has driven many people to leave their animals with the facility. “We’ve never in our history been this full,” she said.

Polly Keyes has been walking dogs at the Humane Society for about five years after her own dog died and she was weighing whether to adopt another one. She called dog walking “the perfect volunteer job, because you get to be outside, you get some exercise and the dogs are happy to see you,” she said one morning while walking Honeygirl, a dog that, like most dogs brought to the society, was a mixed breed.

It doesn’t bother her that the walk itself covers the same territory every time. “It’s a different dog, so it’s a different walk,” she said.

Mike Quinn, a retired manager at UPS, has been walking dogs for about the past year. He also enjoys seeing new dogs every week. “These dogs are so good,” he said while walking a dog named Cuddles. “It’s only one day a week I go, and it’s pretty manageable for people if you have an OK schedule.”

It can be an emotional experience working at the facility. Quinn has seen many pet owners “sobbing” after having to leave their animals there, but has also had the pleasure of seeing an animal he walked get adopted. He remembers seeing “the most unadoptable dog,” a shaking, mangy animal, get adopted by an older man who was waiting for his wife to get her hair done.

“It dawned on me that not everybody needs a dog that they can hike the Koolaus with,” he said. “”Maybe he’s just sitting there with a dog on his lap.”

Contact the Hawaiian Humane Society at 808-356-2200 or hawaiianhumane.org.