Get Your Heart Pumping with These Free and Easy Tips

Get Your Heart Pumping

Adding exercise to your day doesn’t have to include a costly gym membership. In honor of American Heart Month, the health experts at Envolve, an integrated healthcare solutions company, are pleased to share five free and easy ways to add some cardio to your day and support your heart health without stepping a foot in the gym.

1. Download an App. Low on time and looking for a quick workout? Pull out your mobile phone and search the app store for free apps that can help add fitness to your daily routine. There are numerous types of workouts that focus on specific areas of the body like your arms, chest, back or legs. Or you can find ones that provide short 5, 7 or 10 minute workouts that fit into your tight schedule.

Related: Encourage the Family to Get Moving with These Apps!

2. Jump Around. Short on time and space? Get jumping, jack! Try performing 10 repetitions of jumping jacks and increase by 10 each week to build up your strength and stamina. The average calorie burn for 10 minutes of performing this exercise is more than 100 calories for a 150-pound person! In addition to improving your heart health, you’ll enjoy lowered blood pressure levels, strengthened muscles, and reduced stress. This exercise doesn’t require any equipment and can be performed anywhere so there are no excuses!

3. Walk It Out. If you live near a park, go for a stroll to enjoy nature and get some activity. Too cold or not by a park? Head to a mall and take advantage of the large footprint to window shop and get your steps in. You can even “house walk” – which means just walking around your home or marching in place.

4. Just Dance. Press play, pump up the music and dance like no one is watching. Get creative and try different styles like hip hop, swing, or salsa. Dancing various styles will help you to use a variety of motions and engage multiple muscle groups. You’ll not only get your heart pumping but burn calories and increase your energy, too!

5. Make Moves. Take the mundane and make it meaningful. Can you cross items off your to-do list by walking to pick things up? If walking isn’t possible, you can still add activity. Find a parking spot further away from the entrance of where you’re going or take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator. If you’re using mass transit, jump off the train or subway one or two stops before your desired destination and walk the extra distance. Every step adds up!

Envolve, Inc.^® is a family of health solutions, working together to make healthcare simpler, more effective and more accessible for everyone. As an agent for change in healthcare, Envolve is committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Envolve unifies specialty pharmacy, PBM, vision, dental, 24/7 nurse advice services, diabetes management, MSO solutions, and more. For more information, please visit our website www.envolvehealth.com or contact us at [email protected].

Learn More About Fitness

• The Family Factor of Five: Making Time for Fitness (and Actually Doing It)
• The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Fitness Programs
• 4 Exercise Progressions, 5W’s, and an H
• Fitness Equipment Worth Buying
• The Folly of Fitness Focus a User’s Guide
• Making Time for Fitness
• Fitness Challenge
• Waving Not Drowning: The Process of Making Fitness Fun
• Five Fitness Facts for a Fitter Fall
• Fitness Fun: Incorporating Fitness into the Classroom
• Looking for a Fun Family Exercise? How About Parkour!
• The Greatest Gift Of All Regaining Your Health & Your Groove
• Life as We Grow It: Fitness as a Life Skill for Special Needs Populations
• Turning Physical Fitness into Fun for Life

This post originally appeared on our March/April 2019 Magazine