30 Minutes a Day Can Help Keep Heart Disease Away

Did you know that exercising as little as 30 minutes each day can improve your heart health and quality of life? We’ve got ideas for simple activities you can do at home and at work.

Take a walk! According to the American Heart Association, walking is the simplest positive change you can make to improve your heart health. Here’s why:

• Studies have shown that for every hour of walking, you may increase your life expectancy by two hours.
• Regular walking can improve your cholesterol, lower blood pressure, increase your energy and stamina, and prevent weight gain.
• Walking is low-risk, easy to begin and can be done anywhere, anytime.
• You can adapt walking to your mood – go it alone, take your pup or meet up with a friend.

Schedule too crazy? Try breaking up your 30 minutes into three, 10-minute walk breaks throughout your day. These can be done before work, during lunch or after dinner – whatever works for you and is easy to maintain.

Make your workday more active. Between commuting to work and spending hours behind a desk, there’s no doubt that office life has many of us sitting too much. The good news is that there are simple ways to combat the sedentary lifestyle that can lead to a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and other conditions:

• Stand up to take phone calls.
• Hold standing or walking meetings.
• Set a timer to remind you to stand up and stretch or take a walk every hour.
• Take a 30-minute walk during your lunch hour.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Park a little farther away from the front door.
• Consider walking or biking to work, if feasible.

The easiest way to start is to pick one or two of these and add them to your daily routine. Then when you’ve turned your new behaviors into a habit, add another. Over time, small changes can add up to big results when it comes to your health.