What has exercising got to do with coronary heart disease, heart attack, and other heart-related conditions? Well, a whole lot can improve your heart health. Engaging in physical activities can help secure good heart health.
Exercises is an effective tool for keeping your weight under healthy control, strengthening the heart muscles, and fighting against artery damage from increasing cholesterol levels, high sugar, and blood pressure. These conditions can lead to stroke or heart attack. Exercise helps with complete fitness. However, resistance and aerobic training are the most effective for heart health.
Here are different types of exercise for the heart and their benefits to you.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise routines are good for the heart. They are the best exercise routines to help manage heart diseases because they improve circulation, which can control your blood pressure. Aerobic exercise for the heart can help increase general aerobic fitness, such as measured by a treadmill test. Aerobic exercise also improves cardiac output, that is, how well your heart pumps. This exercise routine can help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. If you are diabetic, this is a great exercise routine because it can control your blood glucose.
Examples of aerobic exercise
- Running
- Brisk walking
- Swimming
- Playing tennis
- Cycling
- Jumping rope
You can do these for 30 minutes a day, five days in a week.
Resistance Training
Resistance training will have more effect on your body composition if your body fat is high (which can increase your risk factor for heart disease). This type of exercise can help you with lean muscle and reduce fat. A combination of resistance training and aerobic exercise can help cut down LDL (bad) cholesterol and spike up HDL (good) cholesterol.
Examples of resistance training
- Working out with dumbbells, hand weights, or barbells
- Working on weight machines
- Body-resistance exercises, such as squats, push-ups, and chin-ups.
You can do these for two nonconsecutive days a week.
Flexibility and Balance Workouts
Flexibility workouts including stretches do not directly influence the state of the heart. They contribute to musculoskeletal health, which helps you stay flexible and free from cramps, joint pain, and other muscular issues. This comes in handy during your resistance training and aerobic exercise workouts. How so? A great musculoskeletal framework helps you to do exercise for the heart. As an added benefit, balance and flexibility exercises help prevent falls and maintain stability.
Examples of balance and flexibility routines
- Stretches at home
- Seat stretch
- Knee-to-chest stretches,
- Yoga
Do these daily, before and after performing other exercises.
There you have it! Exercising is great for your heart health. To get started on the exercise for the heart, try out brisk walking, skipping, cycling, and daily running and jogging.
All these are great routines for a healthy heart. However, speak to a doctor before starting any exercise routine if you have an existing heart condition.
