We all know that a little activity throughout the day can benefit your body and your mental health. But this isn’t always possible while you’re at work. Fortunately, those smartphones we lug around all day and the computers we sit behind for hours at a time can help with that. There are apps for everything nowadays—for shopping, entertainment, travel, even mastering a new language. And there are apps to benefit your health as well. Here are five of them.
Get up and move
Stand up! The Work Break Timer is a free app for your phone that reminds you to take a break and move around at work little. You can program it to tell you every five minutes or even every two hours, whatever works for you and your schedule. There’s also StandApp, which reminds you to stand up and breaks and includes fifteen easy exercises that you can do at your desk. And Big Stretch Reminder, a free app to be downloaded onto your PC or laptop, does the same.
Drink some water
Dozens of apps can help you track your water intake each day. AloeBud tracks your hydration and other self-care tasks like working out, brushing your teeth, and getting to bed on time. Drink Water Reminder customizes your notifications based on your sleep schedule and how often you typically drink water. There’s also PlantNanny, Aqualert, Hydro Coach, iHydrate, and My Water Balance, to name a few.
Take a quick walk
Apps can remind you to take a quick walk or jog during the day, too. And many of them also track your mileage, help you map out your route, and even provide stretching and toning exercises to supplement your activity. If you want to enhance your walks, check out Moves, Map My Walk, Runtastic Pedometer, and Path.
Comprehensive health apps
Both iPhones and Samsung phones have introduced comprehensive wellness apps in the last few years. The Apple health app collects health data from your iPhone, Apple Watch, and any other relevant apps that you use. It tracks your activity levels, like steps or miles walked or ran and additional information, like height, weight, and age. You can use metrics to see how your health has changed over time and how your fitness levels are improving. Samsung’s app is similar. It collects the same type of information, including nutrition data, heart rate, and oxygen saturation. It can even help you diagnose based on the symptoms you report.
Heart rate notifications
Your Apple Watch also monitors your heart rate and alerts you if you have an irregular rhythm that might be atrial fibrillation. That monitoring system, along with a presence of symptoms like rapid heartbeat, palpitations, fatigue, or shortness of breath, can help predict heart-related complications—another reason that these apps that track nutrition, fitness, and other health-related issues are so important.
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