There are many key exercise strategies that can ultimately make your heart healthier and stronger. It is important to incorporate these types of exercises into your daily routine to maintain heart health.
In awareness of American Heart Month, people can take the opportunity to see if their normal exercise routines can benefit their heart health. Even if you do not have a current exercise routine, this is an excellent place to start. With the goal of heart health in mind, exercise is beneficial because it strengthens the heart, improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, it is more desirable to have a lower blood pressure because high blood pressure can cause the heart to be working harder, and it becomes difficult to maintain over a longer period of time and could cause the heart to fail. In an effort to promote heart health, here are some great exercises you can try today that can benefit your heart.
Resistance training
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine Johns Hopkins Medicine, one of the best workouts one can do to support heart health is to incorporate some type of strength training. Examples of this type of exercise can include resistance bands and other body resistance activities such as squats, wall sits and push-ups. Resistance training is considered a heart-health booster because it can help to reduce overall body fat. Increased body fat is an indicator for potential heart disease down the road. Exercises like these can also make sure levels of HDL cholesterol are rising and LDL cholesterol is lowering. According to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention HDL is the high-density lipoprotein that absorbs the cholesterol in the blood and carries it back to the liver and is linked to decreased risk of heart disease and stroke. While LDL is low-density lipoprotein and is the main source of cholesterol in the body, increasing risk of heart disease and stroke.
Aerobic exercise
It is important for your heart health to complete some type of aerobic exercise at least five times a week for at least 30 minutes at a time. Examples of beneficial aerobic exercises can be running, swimming, walking, and cycling. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, aerobic exercise is beneficial to your heart because of its effect on cardiac output. By incorporating these exercises, your cardiac output, meaning how effectively your heart is able to pump, will improve.
By including a blend of both resistance training as well as aerobic exercise in your daily exercise routine, you will be able to improve the overall health of your heart as well as reduce your risk of heart disease. The benefits of completing these exercises at least five times a week far outweigh any other activity that you could be doing to strengthen heart health. Your heart is vital to living, so it is important to take measures to keep it healthy and strong. Incorporate these workouts into your daily routine today and start seeing the benefits!
