Now that Spring is beginning to make itself felt across the country, you can now get outside and begin working on getting more activity, while enjoying the sun and warming weather. People that know they need to become more active because of yearly visits to their physicians who warn them that their current lifestyle is not providing enough physical activity to get their blood pressure under control. If you don’t know what your numbers are, you should not wait to find out after you’ve experienced a medical incident. Make an appointment with your physician and get an overall physical and let them tell you the results of how you fare and what if anything you need to be aware of.

High blood pressure or hypertension (blood pressure greater than 140/90 over a period of time) affects nearly 78 million Americans. Although it’s the leading cause of death worldwide (13 percent), about 30 percent of adults don’t even know they have high blood pressure. Many of those who are aware aren’t taking control of their disease. If left untreated, hypertension can increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease (decreased blood flow usually to the legs and feet).

If after visiting your physician and you are told that you indeed are part of those 78 million you need to not only work at getting your blood pressure under control but you also need to monitor it so you can react if your blood pressure rises or falls so that you can take necessary action.

Using a home blood pressure monitor is a good idea so that you can track your blood pressure on a regular basis. Your doctor can advise you how often you should check your pressure and what to do if it rises or falls. One such monitor that can easily be used is the LifeSource UB351 Automatic Wrist Blood Pressure Monitor  It is a wrist based monitor that will alert you of the presence of an irregular heartbeat and provides blowrist-based and pulse rate measurements even if an irregular heartbeat occurs. It can also calculate the average of the total readings stored in its memory; a convenient way to get a snapshot of your measurements over time and provide you with an average of just what your blood pressure is over a specific timeframe.

How to use a home blood pressure monitor
Be still. Don't smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise within 30 minutes before measuring your blood pressure. Empty your bladder and ensure at least 5 minutes of quiet rest before measurements.

Sit correctly. Sit with your back straight and supported (on a dining chair, rather than a sofa). Your feet should be flat on the floor and your legs should not be crossed. Your arm should be supported on a flat surface (such as a table) with the upper arm at heart level

Measure at the same time every day. It’s important to take the readings at the same time each day, such as morning and evening. It is best to take the readings daily however ideally beginning 2 weeks after a change in treatment and during the week before your next appointment.

Take multiple readings and record the results. Each time you measure, take two or three readings one minute apart and record the results. If your monitor has built-in memory to store your readings, take it with you to your appointments. Some monitors may also allow you to upload your readings to a secure website after you register your profile.

So just what are the numbers to be aware of? We have them listed Below:

NORMAL LESS THAN 120 and LESS THAN 80
ELEVATED 120 – 129 and LESS THAN 80

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 1 130 – 139 or 80 – 89

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
(HYPERTENSION) STAGE 2 140 OR HIGHER or 90 OR HIGHER

If you get a high blood pressure reading:
A single high reading is not an immediate cause for alarm. If you get a reading that is slightly or moderately higher than normal, take your blood pressure a few more times and consult your healthcare professional to verify if there’ s a health concern or whether there may be any issues with your monitor.

If your blood pressure readings suddenly exceed 180/120 mm Hg, wait five minutes and test again. If your readings are still unusually high, contact your doctor immediately. You could be experiencing a hypertensive crisis.
If your blood pressure is higher than 180/120 mm Hg and you are experiencing signs of possible organ damage such as chest pain, shortness of breath, back pain, numbness/weakness, change in vision, difficulty speaking, do not wait to see if your pressure comes down on its own. Call 9-1-1!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the American College of Sports Medicine all recommend at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both for adults.

Intensity – Exercise at a moderate level. Use the “talk test” to help you monitor. For example, even though you may notice a slight rise in your heart rate and breathing, you should be able to carry on a conversation while walking at a moderate pace. As you walk faster, you will begin to breathe faster and have difficulty talking. At that point, you’ve achieved moderate intensity or “somewhat hard.” Vigorous exercise causes a large rise in heart rate and breathing. At this intensity, it would become difficult to talk. Most people would rate this as “hard to very hard.”

Time – Exercise 30-60 minutes per day. You can do it all at once or break it up into a few sessions of at least minutes each.

Type – Do rhythmic exercises using the large muscle groups. Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active
lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to keep your program more enjoyable.

Start by exercising on your own. Begin walking or another form of activity that you can integrate into your daily routine.

Do rhythmic exercises using large muscle groups:
Try brisk walking, cycling, and swimming. Choose activities you enjoy and will do regularly in your new, more active lifestyle. Add variety depending on the day or the season to
keep your program more enjoyable. All you really need, though, is a good pair of shoes
to get started walking. Use a Pedometer or other activity tracker to monitor your progress. Slowly work toward a goal, like maybe 10,000 steps per day.

If you have been inactive for a long time, start with short sessions (ten to 15 minutes). Add five minutes to each session, increasing every two to four weeks. Gradually build up to being active 30 minutes a day for most days of the week. Be sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during, and after exercise, especially if you plan to exercise on a hot day or for a
long time. Always cool down slowly.

If possible, measure your blood pressure before you exercise. Do not exercise if your resting systolic blood pressure (the top number) is greater than 200 or your diastolic blood pressure
(the bottom number) is greater than 115. Contact your doctor!

So, getting back to where we started, now that you have some beneficial information about how and why you check your blood pressure. It's important that "Knowing" your numbers and keeping them in line will allow you to help yourself by being more active and getting your body in better shape.

And what better time to get started then in the Spring of the new year? By walking at a brisk pace,  eating healthy, lowering your stress all these things combined can help keep you living a more healthy and active life for years to come!
 

 

 

 

It’s Just About Valentine’s Day. How About Giving Your Sweetheart, A Heart-Felt Gift Of Knowing Their Heart Is A Healthy One?

Yes, Valentine’s Day usually brings to mind going out and getting your significant other gifts of the heart. Like boxes of candy, flowers, (roses are the most popular), reserving a table at that great restaurant that she or he likes. Spending a quiet night at home with that special person, maybe giving in and watching her favorite “Chick-Flick” with her, while enjoying a bottle of a wine that you both like. After all, it's all about showing the person you really care about, that you do care about, Them!

And yes, some of the above suggestions can turn out being a little pricy, but heck, it’s Valentines Day, and on this day, you’re not putting a price on your feelings, right?

All of this is fine and dandy but if you really care about each other, then you don’t need to remind each other of this day by giving each other gifts.  And while this day is great for the candy and flower stores playing on your conscious that you're supposed to let your significant other know you care after you give that gift of self-indulgence, it will soon be only a memory, but a nice memory.

Why not give them a gift that really shows you care about them and want them to be around with you for a long, long time? The gift that I’m talking about is really a gift that targets the heart. Their heart, maybe yours too. I’m talking about giving them a heart rate monitoring watch. A fitness tracker, that has the ability to monitor their heart rate as they go about their busy day and hopefully that includes getting in some exercise. Which will help them be around for a long, long time!

This all goes hand in hand with the month of February, besides being the month in which we celebrate our love for our special friend, friends, and family, it’s also Heart Month! Kind of cute how heart month works right in alongside of Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? Which is why we’re choosing to give a gift that monitors their/your hearts, so you/they can know your numbers and hopefully adopt long term healthy habits that can help keep your heart beating strong, for many years to come.

Our hearts are arguably the most important muscle in our bodies, with all the advances in technology today, it would be a shame if we did not take advantage of this "New Wave" of healthy metrics by picking out a fitness monitor that fits your significant others lifestyle.

There are so many wearable fitness monitors on the market right now that are fun and health-promoting. They track heart rate, steps walked, and calories burned throughout the day, which makes it the perfect gift for keeping track of, and making sure that your heart is in tip-top health!

One of the leaders in fitness tracking and now heart rate monitoring is Garmin. Garmin has a very accurate, wrist-based, heart rate monitor. It’s called the Garmin Vívosmart 4 Wellness & Fitness Tracker!  The Garmin Vívosmart 4 will not only track your daily activity, but it will also give smart notifications from your phone, track stress levels and has a pulse ox sensor, and you don't have to worry about it getting wet because it's also waterproof!

This slim, swim-friendly wearable comes loaded with fitness and wellness features to help you make the most of a healthier, more active lifestyle. A wrist-based Pulse Ox sensor lets you estimate blood oxygen saturation while you’re sleeping — or you can spot-check your oxygen levels anytime during the day. The device also monitors heart rate at the wrist and includes helpful tools such as all-day stress tracking, a relaxation breathing timer, and VO2 max readings. Plus, the "Body Battery" energy monitoring helps you know when you’re primed to be active or when you may need to rest.

After all, the gift of good health is a gift that keeps on giving. So why not give your sweetheart a gift this year that puts them on the right track of being healthy, now and for many years to come. I’m sure they and YOU will love this fitness tracker as much as their/your heart does.

Happy American Heart Month and Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

If you're excited about upping your running game for 2019 then you need to know your pushing yourself to your maximum. In order to do this right, you need a good fitness tracker. The Garmin Forerunner 935  is one tracker that will go the distance for you, and then some! The Garmin 935 is the ultimate tool for dedicated runners everywhere. Whether you are a triathlete or trail runner, you cannot pass up on the Forerunner 935xt. Super concise data is a runner's best friend and with the Forerunner 935, you'll have all of the data you need. Multi-Sport dynamics (running, swimming, and cycling), VO2 Max, wrist-based heart rate, recovery time, race predictor, and more. The 935 also offers you more ways than ever to store and track your data. Use automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, or use “Strava” live segments to turn every run into a virtual race. The 935 is truly the most powerful Forerunner ever.

Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.

Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.

The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.

One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.

It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.

Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.

Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.

You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.

You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.

Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.

Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.

The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.

Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.

All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.

So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935  is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!

Ok, you jumped on the fitness bandwagon and get to the gym when you can, eat healthier and even try to walk/run a few miles every week, along with throwing in a bike ride maybe once or twice a month. Sounds like your doing everything you need to, in order to be healthier right? Well, just how is your heart holding up to all of this?

Today, when your talking with someone about how you’re now exercising, someone in the group will probably lead the conversation to ask what your normal exercise routine heart rate is and if you're reaching your target zone. And you just stand there looking at him/her without knowing how to answer. Mainly because you just don’t know what your target zone or what your heart rate should be. So, what should they be?

The heart rate is one of the 'vital signs,' or the important indicators of health in the human body. It measures the number of times per minute that the heart contracts or beats.
The speed of the heartbeat varies as a result of physical activity, threats to safety, and emotional responses. The resting heart rate refers to the heart rate when a person is relaxed.

While a normal heart rate does not guarantee that a person is free of health problems, it is a useful benchmark for identifying a range of health issues. The heart is a muscular organ in the center of the chest. When it beats, the heart pumps blood containing oxygen and nutrients around the body and brings back waste products. A healthy heart supplies the body with just the right amount of blood at the right rate for whatever the body is doing at that time.

To get an idea of what your heart rate should be, it’s recommended that you exercise within 55 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes to get the best results from aerobic exercise. The MHR (can be roughly calculated as using 220 minus your age) this is the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity.
For example, if you're 45 years old, subtract 45 from 220 to get a maximum heart rate of 175. This is the maximum number of times your heart should beat per minute during exercise.

When training for fitness, it is important not to put too much strain on the heart. However, an individual needs the heart rate to increase while exercising to provide more oxygen and energy for the rest of the body.

While the heart rate increases as a result of physical activity, an overall decrease in target heart rate is possible over time. This means that the heart is working less to get the necessary nutrients and oxygen to different parts of the body, making it more efficient.

Cardiovascular training aims to reduce the target heart rate. The ideal target heart rate reduces with age. It is also worth noting the maximum heart rate. This demonstrates the full capability of the heart, and it is normally reached through high-intensity exercise.

Exercise is a way to bring down the overall heart rate. The American Heart Association (AHA) states that the maximum heart rate during exercise should be roughly equal to 220 bpm minus the age of the person. As the body of each individual will react to exercise differently, the target heart rate is presented as a range known as the target heart rate zone.

A tool that is available to everyone today to track your heart rate and know where your at in regards to your target zone is to get a good, accurate heart rate monitor that can monitor your exercise activity and let you know just what your heart rate is, both by being active and when your at rest and how much time should elapse in between beginning a new exercise routine.
One such smartwatch is the Garmin Forerunner 735XT GPS Running Multisport Watch
This wrist-based heart rate monitor will track your beats per minutes, and the activity tracker will help you keep a close tab on your calories and sleep throughout the day. It's easy to view heart rate measuring function at the wrist, gives you an actual read on just how well you’re doing.
It also comes with advanced dynamics available for swimming, running, and cycling with stride length, vertical ratio, and more.  It can estimate your lactate threshold, offers a recovery advisor, and VO2 max estimate.

You can never be too careful when exercising not to overdo it! And having a tool like the Garmin Forerunner 735 strapped to your wrist can provide you with some necessary information that you can use to give you a heads up if you're moving into a danger zone. Remember, any type of fitness monitor is only another tool that’s available to you. We always recommend that you stay in contact with your physician on a regular basis for checkups to keep you both aware of any potential danger signals. A good smartwatch like the Garmin Forerunner 735 can give you a heads up about a potential problem that you can act on by getting to your doctor to get it checked out.

So, exercise, do it right and monitor your stats to make sure you and your heart are on the same wavelength!

 

When you use a heart rate monitor from HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com, it’s as if your monitor eventually becomes part of you! Don’t believe us? See for yourself.