Next month is American Heart Month! At Team Wellbeats, we’re all about finding non-conventional ways to get exercise in and move more throughout the day… even at work! Here’s 5 Heart-Healthy Habits to try!
Because of our strong mission to provide fitness that fits in any lifestyle, we wanted to share 5 different ways to get a jumpstart on moving more – so your heart can reap the benefits <3
Here are 5 heart-healthy habits you can start making at work right now:
- Take the stairs.Before you roll your eyes, consider this: studies have shown that stair climbing, which is considered a high-intensity physical activity, can burn more calories per minute than jogging!*
Heart-Healthy Habit: Challenge yourself to only take the stairs every morning. If your office does not include stairs, try 1 minute of high-knees for a similar effect.
- Play a Wellbeats Office Break 1-2X a day.Not sure what an “Office Break” entails? This is a channel featured on Wellbeats that includes 1-8 minute exercises that can be done right at your desk when you’re feeling burnt out or fatigued – with options like chair yoga, boosting creativity, and clearing your mind.
Heart-Healthy Habit: During midmorning or midafternoon between meetings, play 1 quick Wellbeats Office Break right at your desk. Bonus: encourage an employee to participate with you!
- Stand up when you work! No standing desk? No problem. There are several DIY ideas, including simply stacking a set of board games or books like the ones shown here.
Heart-Healthy Habit: Start you work day standing using a stack of books. Stand for as long as you can – but give yourself permission to sit as needed.
- Carve out 20 minutes during your lunch hour to move.Whether it’s going up and down the stairs again, walking outside, or even taking a quick Wellbeats workout, there are plenty of short but effective options to get up and move.
Heart-Healthy Habit: Before diving into your lunch, take 20 minutes to move around the office in some way. Your lunch will still be waiting for you when you return – and can serve as a nice reward.
- Practice mindfulness.While this may seem like an odd choice to promote a healthy heart, reducing stress with a mindfulness practice can play a signifcant role in reducing heart-related problems. You can practice mindfulness on Wellbeats by taking classes like “Breathing Meditation”, “Dealing with Stress”, and “Monday Morning Blues”.
Heart-Healthy Habit: Whenever you feel a sense of overwhelming stress at work, make it your mission to spend as little as 7 minutes practicing the Wellbeats Breathing Meditation class to calm your nerves and lessen any anxiety or stress.
So there you have it – 5 different ways you can start incorporating throughout your work day right now to support a healthy heart. Let us know which habit(s) you plan to make throughout the remainder of January leading into American Heart Month by sharing a comment below or sharing on social media using #Wellbeats.
-The Wellbeats Team
P.s. Throughout the month of February we will be giving away free swag – all you have to do is post a workout wearing red and include the hashtag #Wellbeats on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Make sure your post is set to “public” so we can see it 🙂
*Statistic featured in Very Well: https://www.verywellhealth.com/reasons-to-take-the-stairs-2509609
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