Here’s a few tips to get you started! The health of your heart depends on many factors: diet, family and medical history, and exercise. Some of these factors, like family history, are completely out of our control. One factor that you can control is your level of exercise. Your heart is a muscle that gets stronger the more you exercise it. Here are three exercises that are useful for optimal heart health.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercises work your heart by raising your heart rate and making you breathe harder. Running, walking, hiking, swimming and biking are examples of these. These exercises can be fun, and fun exercises are always easier to do than exercises we hate. It’s a good idea to find your target heart rate zone. These zones range anywhere from 50% to 100% of your maximum heart rate, which is determined by your age. Find the exercises that best suits your interest, experience and lifestyle.
Stretching
When you stretch you become more flexible. You should stretch after you’ve warmed up and finished exercising. Exercises such as Yoga and Pilates are great forms of exercise that involve a lot of stretching. Yoga can help lower blood pressure, increase lung capacity, and improve respiratory function and heart rate, and boost circulation and muscle tone. Yoga can also offer overall well-being while also offering strength-building benefits.
Strength Training
Strength training usually involves weights, resistance bands or your own body weight, and it works best when do it2-3 times per week. Be sure to let your muscles recover for a day between your strength training workouts. Many gyms and work out facilities have trainers that help set you up with a good plan to prevent injury while performing this kind of exercise.
At Corrielus Cardiology we promote heart healthy exercises. If you are looking to transition into taking charge of your heart health download my free 5 steps eBook 5 Ways to Embark on Your Heart Healthy Journey.
