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My sister, Rachel, is a clinical exercise physiologist, a certified ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), and worked in Cardiac Rehab prior to becoming a mom of four little ones.
She will commonly be my guest poster in all things Health and Wellness!
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and it’s exciting to think of all the little hearts floating around and sending some love to our friends and family. With all those Valentine’s comes candy, treats and parties. We love a good celebration around here, especially when we can combine it with a Saint’s Day. But what can we do to offset the treats, while treating our hearts and bodies to some real love??
We’re going to get physical for heart health! Exercise is so important in helping the heart stay happy and healthy. Just like any other muscle in the body, the heart grows stronger and healthier when you exercise. It makes the heart more efficient at sending all of that nutrient rich blood throughout the rest of your body. To break it down very basically for kids; the more you exercise the easier activities become. And when activities are easier they are more fun!
Here are a couple of ideas to share the love and get your hearts pumping this Valentine’s Day:
- Take some of your Valentine’s or heart decorations (or simply cut out red hearts) and hide them high and low all over the house. Give everyone 10 minutes to see how many they can find. Make sure they are hidden ALL over so there is some good cardiovascular efforts in finding them.
- Bonus- give yourself a workout by setting a 10 minute timer to hide as many hearts as you can, make sure you go up and down those stairs a few times to get that heart pumping!
- If the kids think this is entertaining, let them continue the game by taking turns hiding the hearts from each other, then finding them!
- Learn a line dance as a family. We tried to dust off our cowboy boots and learn a little Achy Breaky Heart. We attempted a couple of versions, one very simple and the other slightly more difficult. The kids actually thought this was pretty fun so we also did this kid friendly version of the Cupid Shuffle!
Achy Breaky Heart 1 | Achy Breaky Heart 2 | Achy Breaky Heart 3
H A P P Y V A L E N T I N E ‘ S D A Y !
For the sequel of this heart health post, and a fun way to teach your kids about heart health from your pantry, head over here.
We hope you had some fun trying out these dances! What does your family usually do to get active together? Let us know in the comments below!
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