When it comes to keeping your heart healthy, many people may not know where to start. Finding the right exercise routine for your heart health that also fits into your lifestyle can be tricky. However, heart experts have found many exercises that both reduce heart-related diseases and are simple enough to integrate into your daily routine.
How Will My Heart Benefit From Exercise?
Similar to other muscles in the body, the heart needs to be exercised. Exercising for just 30 minutes every day lowers your risk of developing heart disease later in life. Regular physical activity can also lower your cholesterol and blood pressure.
What Exercises Boost Your Heart Health?
There are many exercises with varying degrees of intensity that can suit any person’s lifestyle. Some of the most common forms of heart-healthy exercise that doctors recommend are:
- Walking- This is a great exercise for people of all ages. Getting up and walking every day will strengthen your heart and get your heart rate up. Walking is also very easy to incorporate into your day and does less damage to your body than running. If you want to challenge yourself, hiking is an alternative that can further increase your heart rate.
- Yoga/Stretching- Yoga may not seem like the kind of exercise that contributes to a healthy heart but some yoga positions can be difficult and require your heart rate to go up. Additionally, the calmness that yoga provides can relax the body and lower your blood pressure.
- Interval training- This kind of training provides a great balance for the heart. When you are doing interval training you are combining high energy and low energy activities. As an example, you may run on a treadmill as fast as you can for 1 minute and then walk for the next 3 and repeat the activity. Raising your heart rate at consistent and safe intervals can help with maintaining a healthy heart and weight loss.
- Weight training- This is a specific type of interval training that utilizes reps and periods of break to build muscle. Weight training can greatly improve balance and strengthen muscles to ease the burden and pressure on your heart.
- Bicycling- Biking raises your heart rate and has been proven to reduce the development of heart disease. Your heart muscles will also be significantly strengthened by this type of consistent exercise.
- Aerobic exercise- Some of these exercises, like swimming, are a favorite of those who are older or who have persistent joint pain. Swimming is a full-body workout that allows the body to build muscle and strength from the resistance of the water.
When beginning any of these exercises, it is recommended that you start slowly then gradually increase intensity over time. If you start off intensely, it could trigger chest pain and in some severe cases, a heart attack.
What Else Can I Do To Improve My Heart Health?
While exercise is an important part of keeping your heart healthy, there are other lifestyle changes that can increase your heart health. Eating correctly can build upon the progress you make with exercise. Making sure not to overeat or consume too many unhealthy foods will benefit your heart’s health in the future.
Another way to increase your heart health is to try to release stress. Exercise is great for easing many different kinds of stress; however, if you notice that you are constantly stressed, even after exercising, you may want to rid yourself of that stressor or speak to a doctor if that is impossible.