Is this the key to good health this summer?

When combined with other heart-healthy habits, achieving a high daily step count can reduce heart attacks by as much as 86 percent, according to a 2017 study.

For this reason, a quality fitness tracker can prove to be one of your best companions on your health journey.

“Even if you work out every morning before going to a job where you sit or stand in one place most of the day, you still have what we consider a sedentary lifestyle,” says Advocate Nurse Dinene Jenkins, who leads clinical stroke education at Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago.

“You may be surprised just how few steps you take during the day. But with a fitness tracker, you won’t need to guess, and you can incorporate the optimal number of steps into your day naturally to bring the full health benefits walking has to offer,” she says.

However, counting steps is just the beginning – with a fitness tracker, you can do so much more to adopt and stay on track with a healthier lifestyle. Jenkins offers the following additional reasons for you to strap your fitness tracker around your wrist and use it:

1. Many fitness trackers count hours slept and quality of sleep for better overall health;
2. They help you set goals (like walking 10,000 steps a day) and achieve them over time;
3. This on-trend fashion accessory is popular with men and women celebrities;
4. Compatible free and paid subscription apps can turn your tracker into a calorie counter and weight management tool and
5. Connecting your tracker to fitness communities can open the door to healthy support from existing and new friends.

And speaking of making healthy connections with new friends, Jenkins encourages the public to join Advocate Trinity’s free Walk With A Doc community walking program. Anyone interested in taking steps toward good health is invited to meet at Advocate Trinity Hospital on the fourth Saturday of every month, from 9:30 – 10:30 am. WWAD starts with a 5 to 10-minute chat about a health topic and ends with a community walk with an Advocate Trinity doctor.

Walkers are allowed to walk at their own pace and preferred distance. During inclement weather, the walk will take place indoor at the Imani Village, 901 E. 95th Street, Chicago. Click here or scroll through the event list below to register.