We, as humans are designed to move. The need to hunt and gather, build our shelter and protect our territory made movement mandatory so many years ago. Today, we know that in our modern societies’ a great deal of movement is no longer required for day-to-day living. Movement is, however essential for us to maintain our health.
Many people today work in sedentary jobs and lead largely inactive lives. When the average American is not sitting down for work, they are often seated while eating, commuting, or relaxing. According to the website Get America Standing, Americans sit on average 10 hours per day. With an average awake time of 16-17 hours a day, that is over half of the day seated.
When it comes to our youth, the statistics are not good either. Increasingly kids are sitting down on their devices. Between homework and gaming, the amount of seat time is alarming. According to PEDIATRICS, an official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) revealed that only 26.1% of American adolescents reported levels of activity consistent with current guidelines. Additionally, 15.4% of students reported not being physically active for at least 1 hour on a single day in the previous week.
The design team for my smartwatch also recognizes that beyond the need to track exercise, the amount of time spent both standing and moving represents key aspects of our daily routine. There is a term known as ADLs (activities of daily living). Some ADLs include: bathing, dressing, moving from place to place, working, and playing. While it is important to schedule regular, vigorous activity into each day, ADLs are central to how we live our lives in a healthful manner. Ask yourself, where can I begin to add more activity into my daily routine? Start small by adding a few activities spread throughout your day. Examples include a morning prayer walk, taking short activity breaks at work, and folding the laundry standing up. The more we can build activity into our daily routine, the easier it will be to keep moving, in this case, towards greater health and fitness.
Tracking Tools
In addition to the many fitness tracking apps like Strava and Runkeeper one useful tool to use during your daily activity is a heart rate monitor. This one, made by Polar, the premier brand in heart rate monitoring, is Bluetooth-enabled and will pair with many smartwatches and smartphones. Having the feedback of a heart rate monitor can help you track your intensity level during activity as well as provide information regarding your cardiovascular health throughout your day.