Is Your Apple Watch Proving Washington Has the Best Hearts?

Residents here in North Central Washington live, play, and exercise along apple orchards and sagebrush hills. The rhythm of life here has always involved motion. We hike the Castle Rock or the East Wenatchee Bench trails on early mornings, pedal the Apple Capital Loop along the Columbia, ski the Mission Ridge slopes when snow dusts the valley, or simply walk the riverfront paths with a dog or a grandchild in tow. Movement here isn't a chore—it's embedded in all of our seasons. All whilen admirig the landscape, the pure air we breathe.

Recent findings from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, drawing on data from over 100,000 Apple Watch wearers, place Washington among the nation's most active states. Alongside powerhouses like Massachusetts, Vermont, California, Colorado, New York, and the District of Columbia, our residents log impressive levels of daily exercise. This isn't mere statistics; it's reflected in lower average resting heart rates, higher VO2 max scores signaling stronger cardiovascular fitness, and, ultimately, hearts that beat with greater protection from the leading cause of death in America.

Contrast this with states like Mississippi, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, where activity lags, and resting heart rates climb—markers linked to elevated risks of heart disease. The study stresses a simple truth: the more we move, the longer and healthier we live. In Washington, our geography demands it—mountains that call rivers that draw, valleys that reward effort with views that steal the breath (in the best way).

Washington residents rank 7th in average daily minutes of exercise, at just over 35. Washington residents have the 5th-highest average VO2 Max score in the nation, at just under 36.

Another way to think of VO2 max is ​to compare your body to a car, with oxygen like the fuel that powers the engine. VO2 max is a special number that measures how big and powerful your engine is. It tells us the most oxygen your body can take in and use while you are playing or exercising super hard. A higher number means your heart and lungs are great at delivering "fuel" to your muscles to keep you moving. Washington residents, on average, have more efficient hearts than most of the rest of America.

For Wenatchee Valley families, this news arrives as confirmation of what we already feel in our bones. Whether closing those activity rings during a crisp February morning or chasing spring blooms up the Saddle Rock trail system, we're investing in tomorrows. Heart disease may stalk the nation, but here, amid the orchards and the peaks, we're choosing motion over inertia—one step, one pedal stroke, one beat at a time.