Fitness Gadgets and your Heart Health

It’s April, the sun is (occasionally) shining and we can officially confirm that spring is upon us, it’s no surprise to find that there’s definitely a ‘spring’ in quite a few people’s steps here at defibshop.

Health is something taken seriously in the defibshop offices, and for those who really like to look after themselves, they rely not only on themselves but on their trusty fitness gadgets!

From FitBit’s to Apple Watches, there are many ways you can keep track of your daily fitness goals to help build strength and improve your health.  Let’s take a look at some of the favourites of the defibshop team:

Apple Watch

This fitness accessory tends to be a popular choice of gadget thanks to its ability to perform and track an array of tasks all at once, whilst still being a stylish accessory.

These watches have the capability to monitor your heart rate thanks to the ‘Heart Rate’ App. Just with the touch of a button, you can check your heart rate whilst multitasking along with your daily duties at work.

For Creative and Marketing Assistant, Jenny, her favourite feature about her Apple Watch is the fitness tracker. Since the New Year, Jenny’s resolution was to take her dog on daily walks with her family members and her Apple Watch lets her know whether or not she has been active enough – in her case 30 minutes a day.

Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise, five days a week significantly decreases your chance of heart attacks and will lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol level.

As well as exercise goals, Jenny can also see how many hours she’s stood for and how many calories she has burned during the day. She can ensure she is being as active as possible, with the watch continually spurring her on. To further motivate Jenny, she can even earn certain achievement badges such as a New Move record or New Exercise record by hitting her goals!

FitBit

Another popular choice of fitness accessory is the widely popular, FitBit, specifically the FitBit Surge seems to a be a well-liked choice for our defibshop team.

Similarly to the Apple Watch, FitBit’s are equipped with the technology to monitor your heart rate meaning you can see your current heart beat wherever you are.

These devices are also equipped with a step tracker, a distance walked tracker, stairs climbed tracker, active minutes monitor, hourly activity monitor and a stationary time monitor. This fitness gadget also boasts a sleep monitor.

The sleep monitor aspect is what Creative and Marketing Co-ordinator loves the most about her FitBit Surge. Frankie’s FitBit Surge monitors her sleep automatically and lets her know every morning how many hours sleep she got via the FitBit App. Not only does it track this information, but it will also tell Frankie if she’s woken up during the night and how long for – even though she may not remember.

A good night’s sleep is vital for our heart’s health. During sleep, your body will heal and repair your heart and blood vessels; a lack of sleep is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes, but can be prevented so long as you’re getting an average of 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

Who’d have thought you could achieve so much by doing so little?

Epicurious App

Admittedly, after a day at work, coming home and having to prep a meal for the family can seem like a gruelling task for some and we admit, it is sometimes easier to call up your local pizza parlour and have them do the work for you; delivering the food included.

But defibshop’s resident foodie, Frankie hopes to inspire by sharing her knowledge on the Epicurious App. Epicurious features more than 28,000 recipes all sourced from either restaurants, cookbooks or top magazines. Whether you’re searching via a keyword or ingredient, you’re sure to find something that’ll satisfy the family.

Epicurious also provides you with a shopping list feature so you know to get the key ingredient for your planned meal; this also helps you plan ahead for the week as you know what you’ll need for the recipes. Epicurious also provides nutritional information on thousands of their recipes so you know what you’re getting with each meal.

Nike Training Club App

If you’re on the hunt for an exercise App that shows you what to do with videos and comes pre-loaded with a variety of workouts, look no further than the Nike Training Club.

You can even have personalised training plans and exercises if there is a specific goal you want to reach.

Having an App on your phone means your workouts can be done at home rather than heading off out to the gym and will make you more motivated to work out as you don’t have to travel anywhere to perform one of the workouts.

 20 Million Affected?

According to a recent report from ITV, 20 million Britons are at risk of heart disease due to being physically inactive.

This statistic was revealed by the British Heart Foundation and the study revealed that the proportion of inactive people being inactive is costing the NHS around £1.2 billion!

Over 5 million deaths across the world can be attributed to being physically inactive. This statistic puts being physical inactive within the top 10 of leading causes of death, worldwide.

Simply wearing a fitness gadget makes you more aware of your overall lifestyle and overall health meaning you’ll be more mindful of how you fill your day, during and after work.

Watches at the Ready!

So, you’ve heard what accessories frequent defibshop HQ, now we want to hear from you! Maybe you love the achievements on the Apple Watch or maybe you love the All-Day Activity features on the FitBit Surge; either way, we want to know!

Leave us a comment in the commenting section below or head on over to social media and Tweet us @defibshop and share your fitness gadget love with us there.