Since it's heart month it only makes sense that I'm going to tie fitness into heart health! For me there is nothing more important than my heart, it is my main motivator in being fit and active. Since Cardiovascular disease is one of the number one killers in North America it is crucial to do something to decrease your risk of developing this life threatening illness.
Endurance activities such as walking, running, biking and swimming are all incredibly beneficial for your heart health! The heart and stroke foundation recommends 150 minutes a week of this type of exercise which boils down to 21 minutes a day, which is incredibly easy to do. You can easily bike for 20 mins, or walk to work and reduce your risk of heart disease!! When doing this type of aerobic activity try to get into a steady state (constant heart rate) of 60-85% of your max heart rate. To get max HR: 220 - age then calculate 60-85% of this.
I know when you're young it seems like these risks are so far away and that you have plenty of time to get fit but if you start now you're more likely to stick with it and incorporate it into your lifestyle. Also just because you're young doesn't mean you're invincible, my issue may have been something I was born with but the scariest thing is we had no idea until I was 20 years old, so it's really good I had been taking care of my heart before then.
yes....it's never too early to think about your health. healthy living is something i'm trying to instill in my kids early on.
ReplyDeleteI love your fitness posts Jenna - and it's so true, the best time to start something is always now although it is definitely much easier to put off today what you can do tomorrow ;)
ReplyDeletexox,
Cee