What’s the best way to counter heart disease? In addition to diet and reducing stress, exercise decreases your risk for cardiovascular disease. So, to improve your cardiac function and keep your heart healthy, let’s learn more about the importance of exercise.
What Can Keep My Heart Working for Life?
Your heart doctor in West Orange, NJ, shares your concern about cardiovascular disease. In fact, it remains the leading cause of death among American adults. Statistics cut across racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender lines, and so, cardiologists across the US prioritize these health-healthy practices:
- Weight loss and maintaining a healthy body mass index (BMI)
- Burning the calories you consume each day
- Keeping your blood pressure within normal limits
- Reducing blood glucose and the risk of diabetes
- Lowering blood cholesterol levels
- Managing daily stress
To achieve these goals and be heart-healthy regardless of your age, the doctors at Hudson Medical Group advise exercise to tone the heart muscle, increase circulation, improve physical endurance, and decrease the impact of stress hormones, such as cortisol, on the heart muscle.
All it takes is an exercise for 30 minutes a day for a total of 150 minutes per week, according to the American Heart Association. You may spread out the exercise over three sessions of 10 minutes each if that works best for your daily schedule.
Exercise reconditions the metabolic pathways which are damaged with heart attacks and reduced blood flow. With the advice and clearance of their heart doctors, people who have suffered cardiac events can undertake regular programs of exercise.
What Exercises Do Heart Doctors Recommend?
Your best cardiac routine involves more than simple household tasks or light-duty jobs. You must get up, get out, move, and yes, huff and puff. Consider this rule of thumb: if you can walk, run, or cycle and can still carry on only limited conversation, you are exercising well, but moderately. Moderate exercise benefits heart muscle.
Here are the six exercises you should consider doing:
Cycling
This activity strengthens the muscles of the lower body and improves the core, too. Plus, because you’re constantly moving those leg muscles, you burn a lot of calories and improve cardiac efficiency. For our cold-weather friends, our heart doctors suggest an in-the-house cycling trainer.
Swimming
Lap swimming keeps muscles moving constantly. Use alternating strokes to avoid boredom, and to increase effort, try swimming with closed fists.
Running
Marathon running is not a must-have, but 10-second sprints are. Run/walk at a brisk pace, and periodically add 10 seconds of going very fast. Be sure you wear well-fitting running shoes to avoid orthopedic and podiatric injury.
Yoga
The stretches and regulated breathing inherent in yoga tone and strengthen muscles. Plus, yoga reduces the stress that sets the stage for cardiovascular disease. Join an in-person or Zoom class to maximize accountability and discipline.
Walking
Walking for your required 150 minutes a week can be as easy as going out your front door. Or, if you prefer, switch on the TV and use a treadmill. The point is to get in that time to strengthen muscle mass, improve blood flow, increase flexibility, and improve your mood. Aerobic exercise, such as walking, swimming, running, or playing tennis, increases endorphins, the brain chemicals which help you feel happy and motivated.
Resistance Training
This is the fancy term for weight-lifting. No, you don’t need to go for heavy barbells. Small free weights, resistance machines at the gym, and push-ups (even the modified version) are excellent examples of resistance training. They all build heart muscle, large muscle groups, and cardiovascular endurance.
Partner With Hudson MD Group
Our heart doctors provide excellent cardiac care for patients of all ages. To start a heart-healthy exercise routine, please call us for a consultation in our West Orange, NJ, office. Your cardiologist will help you every step of the way.
Call us at (973) 705-4914. We are a multi-specialty practice well-equipped to help you and your family achieve all your health goals.
