Smart Heart

Redefine your strength with a health & fitness tracker on your wrist

Everybody usually talks about physical activity when it comes to strength and our health. But rarely do we refer to the connection between our physical and mental strengths that support our overall wellbeing and heart health. September 29 each year marks World Heart Day and at Fitbit we would like to share some tips that could help you focus on cardio health.

There could be multiple ways of maintaining a healthy heart and exercising regularly is definitely one of the most well-known methods. From moderate intensity work-outs to high-impact and cardio intense sessions, regular exercise not only helps keep the body in good shape but helps in minimising the risk of heart-related illnesses.

Based on recommendations from the World Health Organization and the American Heart Association, we should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity a week. A feat that could be accomplished even with a treadmill. And for those who dread the treadmill, here are other fun ways to move your body and support your heart health.

Try a different cardio machine

Gyms and fitness centres in residential buildings are usually equipped with a variety of cardio intensive machines, from rowers to floor climbers, ellipticals to stationary bikes, most of which could get your heart pumping. Choose what will keep you moving and consider changing your preferred equipment regularly to keep it interesting.

Heard of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) class?

If you prefer exercising in a group, a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) class could be the perfect way to get in your heart-healthy workout. Not only are HIIT classes a great way to get your heart pumping but working out with other people can feel more social, energising, and exciting than running solo on the treadmill.

Better weather = running outdoors

As the weather starts to cool down, early morning or late evening outdoor runs around the community with my new Fitbit Charge 5 that has built-in GPS is my preferred cardio workout. Need a little more inspiration for your outdoor run? As part of your Fitbit Premium subscription, you get access to a variety of workouts — outdoor run workouts, like Get Running!, a 20-minute endurance run, or Mix It Up On Your Outdoor Run, a 35-minute workout that will have you hitting the streets at walking, jogging, and running pace. Just pop in your headphones, tune into the audio, and hit the ground running!

Hit the court

Sports are a great way to get your heart pumping and reaching your weekly active zone minutes target. For example, according to a 2019 research by The Mayo Clinic. Basketball causes resting heart rates to rise to levels needed to enhance cardiorespiratory fitness. Similarly, swimming is also known to be the ultimate cardiovascular workout. So, this weekend, pick the sport you fancy and go for a game, doesn’t matter if you win or lose - it could certainly help you in giving you heart a boost.

Active body, healthy heart, restful sleep, stress free mind — it all fits together

Regularly taking the time to slow down and welcoming tranquility into your day could help your mind and body set a tone of productivity, but it can eliminate stress, increase efficiency.

Recently we announced our new Daily Readiness Score — a feature coming soon to Fitbit Premium, which will use insights from your body via your Fitbit device, including your activity, heart rate variability (HRV) and recent sleep, to help you assess when you’re ready to push yourself physically — in other words, if you should workout or prioritize recovery.

By wearing your Fitbit device daily (including while you sleep), you’ll receive a personalised score each morning along with details on what impacted it, with suggestions like a recommended activity level and premium content to help you make the best decisions for your body and make your workouts more efficient.

This World Heart Day, let’s all try to dedicate some time to redefine our routines and focus on building a healthy heart, body and mind.

This article is inspired from the original Fitbit blog post — Tired of the Treadmill? Try These Fun Heart Healthy Workouts Instead by Deanna Debara.

Give your heart a lift

Depending on your body composition, strength training could also have just as many heart-boosting benefits as logging kilometers on the treadmill. According to John Hopkins Medicine, strength/resistance training can help to reduce fat and create leaner muscle mass which can help lower the risk for heart disease.

— Prateek Kewalramani is the Head of Marketing at Fitbit — MEA at Google.