Start!

Summer Walking Guide Provides Tips to Keep you Moving

Don’t let this summer’s heat melt your resolve to be physically active.  You can get started and stay motivated throughout the warm season — with health and safety tips from the American Heart Association’s Start! Summer Walking Guide.

The free guide, available at www.startwalkingnow.org, includes stretching techniques and tips on what to wear, when and where to walk, and what to eat before and after you walk. For example, it’s best to pick a time that you can regularly commit to all summer.  It’s also best to avoid walking early in the afternoon, when the sun is at its strongest and you’re at the greatest risk for heat stroke.  You can also walk in the mall, join a gym or walk in a building at work.

The American Heart Association encourages walking — ideally for at least 30 minutes a day — because it’s free, accessible and easy. In fact, walking has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.  It also helps combat obesity, a major risk

factor for heart disease, the nation’s No. 1 killer.

“The statistics on physical inactivity are alarming,” said Clyde Yancy, M.D., Director of the Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas and American Heart Association president. “A person is 1.5 to 2.4 times more likely to have coronary heart disease if he or she doesn’t do any kind of physical activity. The Start! Summer Walking Guide encourages people to walk their way towards better health.  Its helpful ideas can get you off on the right foot.”

To get the free Start! Summer Walking Guide, downloadable walking plans, tips and trackers and a community of “sole mates” to help you stay on track, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit www.startwalkingnow.org.

Start! is sponsored nationally by SUBWAY® Restaurants, Healthy Choice® and AstraZeneca. 

About the American Heart Association: Founded in 1924, we’re the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of heart disease and stroke.  To help prevent, treat and defeat these diseases — America’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers — we fund cutting-edge research, conduct lifesaving public and professional educational programs, and advocate to protect public health. To learn more or join us in helping all Americans, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit americanheart.org.