As you are following, we are going to look at the three types of exercise to improve your heart health in this article.
A vital component of preserving optimal heart health is physical activity. It’s one of your best tools for building up your heart muscle, keeping a healthy weight, and avoiding arterial damage brought on by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and excessive cholesterol, which can result in a heart attack or stroke.
It’s also true that a variety of exercises must be done in order to get fully fit. The most important things for heart health, according to exercise scientist Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D., are aerobic exercise and resistance training. Although flexibility does not directly affect heart health, it is nonetheless important because it provides a solid platform for completing aerobic and muscular training more effectively.
Here is how different workout forms can benefit you.
The aerobic type of exercise:
How it functions: Stewart claims that by boosting circulation through aerobic activity, blood pressure and heart rate are reduced. Additionally, it improves your overall aerobic fitness as measured, for instance, by a treadmill test (how well your heart pumps). It also increases cardiac output. Additionally, aerobic exercise lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes and helps those with the condition control their blood glucose levels.
In how much time: It is advisable to exercise for at least 30 minutes five days a week.
Running, swimming, cycling, tennis, and jumping rope are a few examples of active exercises. Cardiovascular exercise is what doctors mean when they advise at least 150 minutes of moderate activity each week.
Strength-Building Exercises Using Resistance:
What it does: Resistance training, in Stewart’s opinion, has a more specific impact on body composition. It can help individuals who are overweight lose weight and gain leaner muscle mass, especially if they have a large belly, which is a risk factor for heart disease. Research suggests that combining weight training with aerobic exercise can increase HDL (good) cholesterol while reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends weight exercise at least two days a week on separate occasions.
Exercise methods include using weight machines, resistance bands, or free weights (such as hand weights, dumbbells, or barbells), as well as body-resistance exercises like pushups, squats, and chin-ups.
Stretching, balance, and flexibility:
Stretching and other flexibility exercises don’t immediately improve heart health, but they accomplish this. They help to preserve musculoskeletal health, which enables you to stay flexible and stay away from joint discomfort, cramping, and other muscular illnesses. Flexibility is necessary to continue weight training and aerobic exercise, claims Stewart.
You can engage in heart-healthy exercises if your musculoskeletal system is strong, the expert claims. Exercises to improve flexibility and balance also help prevent falls, which can result in injuries that restrict other forms of exercise by maintaining stability and preventing instability.
How frequently: Each day as well as right before and right after other exercises.
For instance, your doctor might advise basic stretches you can perform at home, or you can find DVDs or YouTube videos to watch (but speak with your doctor if the exercise’s intensity worries you). Additionally, the arts of yoga and tai chi, which are taught in many places, can help you develop these abilities.
What Exercises Are Best for Losing Weight?
Both aerobic exercise and resistance training help you increase your metabolic rate and burn calories. According to Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D., a Johns Hopkins exercise scientist, you burn more calories as your muscle mass increases. “That, together with a healthy diet, leads to weight loss,” he says.
Keep an eye on the condition of your heart.
If you have a recent or ongoing cardiac issue, you must immediately consult a doctor. You can determine when to see a doctor by using our heart health checklist. Please remember that postponing cardiac care at any time might have serious health consequences.
Heart-Healthy Checklist:
- Call 911 or get straight to the ER if you experience cardiac issues including chest pains, breathlessness, or sudden numbness.
- Keep your scheduled time: Don’t put off a heart procedure or surgery if you need to. It’s possible that things will get worse for you.
- Keep searching for yourself: If you have already been given a heart disease diagnosis, follow your cardiologist’s advice on follow-up appointments and therapies.
- Recognize your risk factors: Be sure to understand how your state of health affects your likelihood of developing heart disease.
- Recognize your risk factors: Be sure to understand how your state of health affects your likelihood of developing heart disease.
- Practice these heart-healthy routines: A healthy diet and exercise habit have a significant positive impact on heart health and general wellbeing.
