Heart Health Exercise Tips
Exercises that Improve Heart Health
Heart health is important for many reasons. Your heart pumps blood through your body, supplies oxygen, and helps remove toxins and waste. However, heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death. These issues – and many other chronic heart-related health conditions – are less common in people who are less sedentary and more active.
Here are some exercises that can help improve your heart health.
Types of Exercise
There are different types of exercise and each benefits your body in its own way. Aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking, jogging, jumping rope, etc.) helps improve your circulation, increases your overall fitness, helps your heart pump more efficiently, reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, and much more.
Strength or resistance training is also important. It helps reduce fat and create lean muscle mass, which results in less pressure on your arteries and helps reduce the likelihood of heart-related problems.
How Often Should You Exercise?
In general, you should aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, five days a week and at least two days per week of strength training. However, how often you should exercise depends on many factors.
You don’t need to do the same workout every time. In fact, changing things up and trying to live a healthier and more active lifestyle can be very beneficial and help you stay motivated.
Heart Healthy Exercise Ideas
You don’t need to head to the gym or jump on a treadmill to do some heart healthy exercise. If you’re looking for ideas, here are a few that you may want to try.
More Active Transportation: Walking, biking, or taking other active modes of transportation is a great way to get more exercise in your life. Try to walk at a speed where your heart rate increases and you start to breathe harder, but you can still talk.
Swimming: Swimming is great exercise and it’s a low-impact activity, so it’s great for those with joint problems.
Yard Work: Raking, shoveling snow, gardening, and many other outdoor activities can be a good way to get some extra activity in your life while enjoying yourself and crossing some tasks off your to-do list.
Dancing: Put on some music at home and dance! Whether you’re alone or with others, this can be a great way to get active!
One of the best ways to stay motivated to exercise is to do things you enjoy. Another tip to keep you going is to exercise with someone. Going for a hike with a friend or doing some strength training with a personal trainer will be much more enjoyable than doing it on your own.
By finding the exercises that are right for you, you can improve your heart health, boost your mood, and much more.