Easy Exercise for a Healthy Heart

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Photo Credit: Elly Fairytale via www.pexels.com

The heart is one of the most important muscles, and just like the rest of your body, it needs exercise to stay healthy. The heart pumps blood throughout your body to deliver vital oxygen to cells in all your limbs and keep your brain healthy and focused. There are a few exercises to include in your weekly routine to keep your heart healthy and pumping. 

The Importance of Heart health

Heart health is vital to a well-functioning body. The heart transports blood and oxygen; it helps the body detox and clears out waste; without a functioning heart, the body suffers. A fully functional heart can help reduce your risk of:

  • Heart disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Diabetes
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Strokes

A healthy heart can help increase your endurance and overall fitness and aid in your recovery period. To keep your heart in great condition, you need to stay physically fit as well. As your health increases, so will your heart health.

Exercise and the heart

There are several different types of exercise out there, from powerlifting to jogging, even speed walking. Professionals recommend that you get at the bare minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity per day and a total of 150 minutes per week of exercise.

Regular exercise has benefits not only for your body and mental health but your heart health. The more blood you pump, the better you feel, and the healthier your heart becomes. Create a weekly plan to exercise 3 – 5 days a week. Exercise should increase your heart rate and make you sweat.

Yoga

Yoga is the art of flexibility; holding deep stretching poses can help circulate the blood, increase strength and vascularity. Studies have shown that yoga targets not only physical health but psychological too. The practice activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which allows you to calm down while increasing physical circulation improvement.

Try adding a few of these poses to a morning stretch routine for excellent heart health;

  • Easy Pose – Sukhasana: A seated, cross-legged pose with your back straight, shoulders back. This pose helps center you and is a form of meditation.
  • Mountain pose – Tadasana: A standing pose, feet hip-width apart, arms down at the sides, palms facing out. Tadasana helps improve circulation.
  • Forward bend – Uttanasana: This pose is done by hinging over at the hips while standing, bringing your head down to touch your legs, or as close as is possible. This pose releases tension in the back and helps encourage circulation.
  • Downward dog – Adho Mukha Svanasana: Your body should form an inverted ‘V’ shape. As part of a Sun Salutation, this pose is excellent for increasing bone density, blood circulation, and it beats fatigue.

Strength training 

Strength training might not seem like the obvious choice for heart health. It is an excellent addition to anyone’s daily routine. Strength training works at increasing muscle mass, signaling places for the cardiovascular system to send additional blood. The extra blood flow removes pressure from the arteries and lowers stress on the heart. Strength training helps to tone the body and build muscles across all parts of the body.

Try adding these strength training exercises to your workout for the best heart health:

Weight training

Weight training is one of several strength training forms that involved lifting, pushing, or pulling weights. It builds lean muscle and strength. For people with joint issues, weight training is an ideal fitness option.

Weight training is excellent for body fat loss and targeting specific muscle groups when recovering from physical injury. Studies have shown that weight training is as effective at improving cardiac health as aerobic exercise. Add two 60-minute weight training sessions to your weekly fitness routine; your heart will thank you later!

Resistance training

Resistance training is a form of strength training that uses resistance to build muscle and strength. Resistance training is slightly different from weight training as it is the use of resistance bands (like the ones here) and body weight along with other pieces of equipment such as kettlebells and free weights.

Resistance training helps build bone density and slows down the aging process—all essential parts of a well-maintained heart.

Cardio – Aerobic exercise 

Cardio is well known for anyone that wants to lose a little weight. Regular cardio sessions are beneficial to your heart health; try to get in 2 cardio sessions per week.

The cardio kings of easy exercise for a healthy heart:

HIIT – High-intensity interval training

HIIT is excellent for people who are not fond of running or cycling, the more traditional cardio forms. HIIT is low impact enough for beginners and has the same benefits as conventional cardio in less time. This high-intensity exercise truly gets your blood pumping.

Water aerobics 

A gentle yet effective form of cardio is water-based aerobic exercise. It is gentle enough to not feel like a workout; instead, it feels like 60 minutes of fun! Swimming is a supportive and therapeutic sport that gently increases agility, cardiac health, circulation, and post-injury recovery.

Tip: Try doing a few laps in the pool if your muscles are stiff after a workout.

Cycling and jogging

Cycling and jogging are traditional cardio forms; both increase endurance and vascularity, leading to better heart health.

Health is a lifestyle. 

It doesn’t matter what type of exercising you include in your routine; the essential part is increasing your heart rate and having fun. Adding a few hours a week to exercising is medicine for the heart, mind, and body. Remember to talk to your doctor about what is best for you and how to increase your health and fitness best.

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