In a segment for American Heart Month, host Speaker A and health coach Reena Vokoun discuss the leading cause of death in the U.S.—heart disease—and emphasize lifestyle factors such as nutrition, exercise, and stress management. Reena demonstrates three equipment‑free cardio exercises—lateral jumps/steps, lunges with knee lifts, and squat jacks—showing both high‑intensity (with jumps) and low‑intensity (grounded) variations, describing the muscle groups worked, and recommending typical volume (about 3 sets of 12 reps or 5 minutes per move). She suggests ways to increase difficulty with resistance bands or ankle weights and stresses the importance of medical clearance before starting. The conversation concludes with Reena outlining her credentials as a certified health coach and behavior‑change nutrition and mindfulness specialist, and describing PassionFit’s one‑on‑one, group, and program offerings that integrate nutrition planning, fitness regimens, and stress‑management strategies in collaboration with healthcare providers.
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February is American Heart Month. Many people wearing red to spread awareness about heart disease and stroke and share ways to prevent both. Our friend Reena Vokoun from PassionFit is sharing 3 simple exercises you can do right now to improve your heart health. Reena, as the founder of PassionFit, you are healthy all year long, or at least try to be, and encourage others to do the same. But February is American Heart Month, so wellness should be at the top of mind for everyone.
Exactly. So according to the American Heart Association, heart disease is actually the number one cause of death in the United States, and it actually affects more women than you would even realize. And even though pre-genetic dispositions come into play, there are a lot of lifestyle factors that we can consider, such as nutrition, such as exercise, and even stress management, because actually research shows that stress is one of the basic causes of all human illnesses and diseases.
Well, let's not waste any time. Let's get right to it so we can all live our our best lives. What are we starting with?
Okay, so we're gonna start with some lateral jumps and steps. Okay. And what I'm gonna do is show both the high intensity and the low intensity version so people can modify if they need to.
Alright, let's get started.
Alright, so we are gonna start again with these lateral jumps. You're just gonna go across side to side. And if you wanna take the intensity down, you can simply skip the jump and just stay grounded into the floor. So that's the first move to really rev up your heart rate. It works your quadriceps, your hamstrings, your glutes, and get your stamina going.
And I love we can just do that in the comfort of our own homes. You don't need any equipment. Can you add resistance if you wanna up it even more?
Absolutely. You could use resistance bands. You could also put ankle weights on to make it a little bit harder and to get that heart rate a little bit higher.
Alright, great. What's next?
Okay, so the second one is we're gonna go into some lunges with knee lifts. So you're gonna come back and you're gonna add a little hop for a little high intensity. You're gonna tuck in your core, keep your knees and toes in the same direction. Okay. And then we're gonna do the other side in a more low-impact away. So you're just gonna stay, again, grounded into the floor. You're not jumping, but you're pulling the core in, getting a nice deep lunge, and then coming up.
And these don't take a lot of time either. How long should we be doing something like this?
Yeah, that's a great question. So if this is part of a regular workout, you might want to do maybe 3 sets of 12 reps. Maybe you do each exercise for about 5 minutes with some breaks in the middle. So that you're getting that consistent cardiovascular activity. But again, you can add that into weight training or other parts of your workout.
Okay, and I have to tell you, even though we're just doing examples right now, I'm like, it's getting my heart rate going. I'm like catching my breath even just from that little bit of movement.
Right, absolutely. It's a huge like burst of movement. And some of this is also called plyometric work, which really allows you to use the power and strength in your legs.
Alright, cool. You said 3, so what else do we have?
Yes, so we have one more. And these are called Squat Jacks. So I'm gonna show the high-intensity version first and then we'll modify.
Okay.
So your arms just come out as your legs come out into a squat and then you bring those feet together. So you go out and in. One more. And then if you wanna take the intensity level down, you're just gonna step out from side to side. Nice. So really using your legs. We'll do one more after this and get into that squat and come back in the center. So this is, again, another great strength building exercise for the legs, but it's also very cardiovascular in nature.
So today we really highlighted some exercises, but you said there's a lot of changes people can make to really live their best lifestyle, and that's where PassionFit comes into play. You offer so many services.
Yeah, so I'm a certified health coach as well as a certified behavior change nutrition and mindfulness specialist, so I can work with clients in conjunction with their doctors or healthcare practitioners to really put those lifestyle factors into place. So whether it is coming up with some customized nutrition helping them a little bit with meal planning, really working with them on setting up a fitness regimen, and then finding ways to manage stress. And these are all things that they can fit into a busy lifestyle through one-on-one work, group coaching, and other programs that PassionFit offers.
And I'm glad you mentioned that you work with doctors sometimes because it really is important that people consult a doctor before beginning any kind of lifestyle change.
Exactly. Like, even the exercises that we did today, you absolutely want to make sure that you don't have any injuries or any other health concerns. So if you get the green light from your doctor, then you can partake in a lot of these activities. And then even with nutrition, if you have dietary restrictions or food allergies, it's good for me to know that from your, you know, you from your doctor so that we can come up with a program that works for you.
All right, Reena, you are a great friend of the show, so we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you so much for having me, and see you soon.
