Beat the COVID-19 lockdown blues with Apple Watch to stay fit and healthy

Its been close to fifty days in India since the nation-wide lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and going by the rising cases of infection, the government may continue the restrictions in red zones across the country for a few more weeks.

Already software companies and select corporate firms have announced to extend Work From Home (WFH) initiative for employees until July 31 at least in India, while in other global regions, tech giants including Google and Facebook, have given employees the option to return to the workplace in January 2021.

With this in effect, people have to continue home isolation for many more days. Already, a lot of them have gained weight during the lockdown and with such restriction, nobody can venture out for gyms to get back in to shape.

Well if you happen to have an Apple Watch, its time to get into fitness mode. Faster you set your mind to get healthy, the better for you or else risk getting diabetes and heart-related ailments due to passive lifestyle with no proper physical exercises.

All fitness trainers and psychologists opine that by staying physically active and also with meditation sessions, people can overcome mental stress due to the work pressure and also depression caused by staying at the same place for long period of time.

With feature-rich native apps present in the Apple Watch, you can beat the lockdown blues and get back in shape steadily over time.

"For many people stuck at home, the COVID-19 quarantine means binging on TV and snacks. Overeating during lockdown has been blamed for weight gain. But for some folks looking to stay healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic — Apple Watch proves a crucial fitness tool. Exercise can be a great outlet during these stressful times. The alerts about standing and just getting up to move put it into perspective. There’s no need to sit around all day just because regular life is interrupted, "Shwetambari Shetty, renowned Bengaluru-based fitness trainer said to DH.

Shwetambari Shetty, renowned Bengaluru-based fitness trainer (Picture credit: Apple)

Compared to other smart wearables in the market, Apple Watch has the most intelligent fitness tracker in the form of Activity Rings, which helps the owner develop a strict routine to remain active all day.

Apple Watch user has to complete three colour rings-- Move (Red), Excercise (Green) and Stand (Blue).

In the Move ring, the user has to reach the calories' target for the day. It tracks all your movements such as walking, running, taking steps, and exercises to calculate the calories burnt for the day.

Even at home, you can start a brisk walking session. Just open the native Workout app on tap on the 'Indoor Walk'. Some times, to recalibrate the space around you, it asks to move the arm around in the air. Then, you are good to go.

Apple Watch Activity Rings (Photo credit: Apple)

"Brisk walking for 45 minutes mobilizes the body to dip into fat reserves and burn stored fat. It is especially good for burning internal belly fat, called visceral fat, that not only contributes to your waistline but also raises your risks for diabetes and heart disease. Now when you are walking to burn fat, you need to ensure you are walking fast enough to feel the HR going up, get to 60 to 70% of your max HR (Heart Rate). This will become your fat-burning zone, " says Shetty.

Shetty also adds that people can initiate walk sessions while answering a phone so that you can get the job done both on the work front and also on fitness-wise.

People can also divide walking sessions in terms of steps coverage. He/she can set a target of 1500 steps for every two hours all day from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm, before retiring to the bed.

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If you maintain this training strategy, you can easily reach the Stand goals of 12 hours (one minute of each hour).

Apple Watch workout app can track several exercises

And, for exercises ring, you can do Yoga asanas, intense work out sessions with dumbells, indoor cycling, and more. For the uninitiated, Apple Watch can track outdoor walk, yoga, indoor walk, outdoor run, outdoor cycling, indoor run (treadmill), indoor cycling, elliptical, rover, stair-stepper, high-intensity interval training, hiking, pool swimming, open water swim, and the user can even add more workouts as well.

As far as the mental well being, Apple Watch has the Breathe app, it will notify to the owner at random times all day, to get you off the boring same work. It will take a minute out of your routine and make you watch the visually appealing pattern with breath-in and breath-out exercise, so you get relaxed and get a good supply of blood to the brain.

Apple Watch Breathe App

This will re-engerise the body and let you get back to the work with a refreshed mind and motivation to get the job done for the day.

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Also, if your friends have the Apple Watch, you can invite them for a challenge to clear the Activity Rings faster for the day. This will bring out motivation among all and continue the fitness routine not just during the lockdown, but beyond.

Apple Watch users can invite friends to challenge each to finish Activity Rings for the week

Furthermore, Apple Watch users can also look out for third-party fitness and wellness apps on the Apple App Store to get personalised training.

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