Metro Fit Press Kit - Heart HealthyGo Metro: Heart-healthy Exercise FactsMetro and the American Heart Association want all women (and men) to take care of themselves. Here are some heart-healthy exercise facts: • Exercise can reduce your risk for heart disease. Physical inactivity, along with cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, is one of the major modifiable risk factors for heart attack. If you avoid those risk factors, you'll reduce your chance. • To get started, program one small activity into your schedule. Simply using the stairs at any Metro Rail subway station each day will automatically add a few minutes of exercise to your fitness program. Stations have from 60 to 200 steps, which takes from 30 seconds to a minute. (If you want the best workout, the Wilshire Vermont station has 324 steps!) At the end of the week, you’ve exercised your way to improved leg muscle mass and cardiovascular health. • Exercise can counteract the harmful effects of other risk factors. Studies show that being physically fit lowers heart disease risk even in people who have other health problems, such as high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. To minimize risk, however, you should be physically fit and avoid the other major risk factors you can do something about: cigarette smoke, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and overweight. • Even a little physical activity is better than none. Walking is great exercise. Try getting off the Metro train or bus one stop earlier. Start with one day a week and after a couple of weeks, see if adding another day is possible. The more you walk, the better your health. This approach can earn you an estimated 15 to 20 minutes of walking each day, with only one small change in lifestyle. • Exercise is safe for most people. The potential health benefits of exercise greatly outweigh the risk, although there is a very slight increased risk of death due to heart attack during vigorous exercise. Consult your doctor first if you have any concerns, have been sedentary, are overweight, are middle-aged or older or have a medical condition. • Moms (and dads) who exercise may be helping the health of their children. Setting a good example by exercising and leading an active life can help kids develop good health habits that they will carry with them into adulthood. Embrace an active lifestyle and your kids will, too. If it's safe to walk or bike to a destination, do so. Los Angeles County currently has 251 miles of off-street, exclusive bike paths and 481 miles of designated on-street bike lanes. The Metro bike map is a comprehensive guide for bicycle commuters and recreational bikers. To get a downloadable copy, go to www.metro.net and type “bike” in the search field in the top right corner. And don’t forget that Metro welcomes bikes on buses and trains, so that commuters can peddle their way to the stations and stops. • Today is the best day to start. Doing even moderate-level activities can help lower health risks. And if you want to attain a high level of cardiovascular fitness, gradually work up to exercising on most days of the week for 30 to 60 minutes at 50 to 80 percent of your maximum capacity. It can be as easy as a fast trot to your bus stop. Your heart will thank you for it.
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