Fun, Heart-Healthy Activities
Celebrate National Heart Month Year Round
February is National Heart Month – jump on the opportunity to show your heart some love! Check out these simple and fun ideas to get moving. Have a heart-to-heart with your friends and family about heart health and get them involved in getting active with you!
Pro Tip: With ongoing pandemic precautions in mind, be sure to mask up when around others, move group activities to the outdoors, and follow the latest recommended guidelines in your area.
Fun Activities: You Won't Even Realize It's Exercise
- Turn exercise into social hour by setting up a walking or hiking group with a buddy or small group of friends, and commit to a schedule. (Use SignUp for reminders!) If you’re into people watching and prefer an air-conditioned setting, consider the mall for your walking track.
- Turn the music on (or tell Siri to) and have an impromptu dance party – as you’re going through your morning routine, when you’re cleaning the house (double the exercise!) or cooking dinner, or to celebrate when the kids get home from school. SUPER FUN TIP: If you live with roommates or family, make a house rule that anytime someone turns on the music, everyone dances for 15 minutes.
- Schedule an “Active Night” once a week – make it an adults-only or a family event, or alternate weekly to give adults an occasional break from parent duty. Go bowling or to a climbing gym, play laser tag or paintball, take a (haunted) walking tour of your city, or invite friends over for a game of flashlight tag or ghost in the graveyard.
- Walk the tightrope. Okay, not technically a tightrope, but pretty darn close. Set up a slackline in your yard – you just need the line and a couple of trees or strong poles near each other. It’s more challenging than you’d think. Invite friends or family over to go head-to-head in a competition to see who can go the farthest without falling.
- Go sledding at the nearest hill. Whether you live in snowy environments or not, this idea is a FUN-tastic one. Grab a cardboard box or a large trash can lid to use as your makeshift sled. The thrill of the slide down the hill will make you forget that running back up for another trip is actually exercise.
- Jump on a trampoline. With trampoline centers popping up all over the place, you no longer have to own a trampoline to make this happen. Go bounce your way to a healthy heart!
- Gather a group and hit the streets or trails on your bicycles. Explore outside of your neighborhood for a new adventure. PRO TIP: Many cities have websites, like this one for Austinites, that provide info on bike paths and trails near you.
- Go shopping to get your steps in. Park further from the entrance than you normally do, even if there are parking spots near the front. And don’t feel obligated to spend money – window shopping counts, too!
- Grab a friend or two and head to the park to toss a frisbee. Make it a game in which a player gets a point for each catch. The player throwing the frisbee must throw a catchable disc, but doesn’t have to throw it directly to the recipient. (Thus, a bit of running may be involved.) SUPER FUN TIP: Start a mini-league with more friends and play regularly!
- Start training for a Spring fun-run, 5K or half marathon. Rally a group of equally interested team mates to keep you motivated, whether it’s family, friends, co-workers or a local running Meetup group. Bonus – most entry fees for these events support local charities!
- Try your hand at the latest craze, Pickleball. A mix of tennis, badminton and ping-pong, this activity is perfect for 2 or 4 people of any age and provides a low-stress level way of getting your heart pumping!
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