What Exercises Promote Heart Health?

A sedentary or inactive life is one of the main risk factors for heart disease. People who don't exercise are almost twice as likely to develop heart disease. But luckily, this is a risk factor that can be avoided with a little will and daily exercise.

The heart is a muscle and it becomes stronger and healthier if you lead an active life. It's never too late to start exercising, and you don't need to be an athlete for that.

In this article, you will learn about the benefits of being physically active, the types of exercises that are most beneficial for your heart, and how long to exercise for. In this way, you will have the basic information so that you can start your exercise routine.

1. Why Exercise?

Exercise can benefit the body in a number of ways, ranging from increasing endurance, reducing stress, tension, anxiety and depression to improving sleep, protecting against bone loss, and making you feel healthier.

However, exercising is also closely related to improving heart health. Some benefits are as follows:

• Strengthens the heart and cardiovascular system
• Burns calories and helps maintain a healthy weight
• Improves circulation that helps the body to use oxygen better
• Lowers blood pressure
• Maintains healthier cholesterol levels
• Allows the arteries of the heart to dilate more quickly

Without a doubt, leading an active lifestyle is very good for your health. But now you will surely wonder what types of exercise you should do. Don't worry, you will get answer for this question in the next point.

2. What Kind Of Exercises To Do

In general, exercises can be divided into three basic types:

• Stretching: It consists of the slow stretching of the muscles and without causing pain. Stretching your muscles before and after exercising helps prepare your muscles for activity and prevents injuries and muscle cramps. In addition, continuous stretching increases range of motion and flexibility.
• Cardiovascular or Aerobic Exercises: This is constant physical activity that uses large muscle groups. This type of exercise strengthens the heart and lungs which improves the body's ability to use oxygen. Aerobic exercises are the most beneficial for the heart. Over time, these can lower your heart rate and blood pressure and improve breathing. Some examples are running, jogging, and biking.

• Strengthening exercises: It consists of repetitive contractions of the muscles until they are tired. For this, weights, resistance bands or the body's own weight are used, such as yoga. It should be noted that some strengthening exercises are not recommended for people with heart failure.

When done properly, any type of exercise can be good for your body and can even keep you healthy during illness. However, aerobic exercise is best for your heart. How often and for how long should you do these exercises? We will give the guidelines immediately.

3.  Frequency and Time Of Cardiovascular Exercises

A heart-friendly cardio routine should last 20-30 minutes. Do these activities at least three to four times a week. However, if you want to lose weight, you must do some type of cardiovascular exercise for 30 to 45 minutes or more, four or more days a week.

You can start with activities of moderate intensity and little by little increase the intensity of the exercises. Aerobic exercise can even be done in short blocks of time, such as taking short breaks to walk a few times during the day.

Over time, you will be able to exercise for longer periods of time. Do this gradually so your body can adapt to physical activity.

For many people, walking is a great option for aerobic exercise. In fact, this is one of the most natural forms of exercise. It's safe, it's simple, and all you need to get started is a good pair of sneakers.

In addition to walking, other aerobic exercise options include the following: swimming, dancing, hiking on flat ground, jumping rope, and even doing a little gardening.

Finally, to maximize the cardiac benefits, you can add some type of strengthening exercise to the week. For example, resistance training with weights can improve your strength and help your muscles work better together. However, take it easy and don't try too hard.

4. Don't Forget The Warm-up and Stretching

Last but not least, we must talk about how fundamental warming is. Warming up will help prevent injury during exercise. You should do a 5–10-minute warm-up, which includes stretching exercises and gentle movements that slightly increase your heart rate.

Some activities you can do include walking around, marching in place, pedaling slowly on a bike or jogging gently.

At the end of the exercises, do not forget to stretch the muscles to allow them to recover from the effort made. Don't bounce when stretching, as it can injure your muscles. Also, do not overstretch your muscles because you could cause a strain or even a tear.