Exercises to Strengthen Your Heart

EXERCISES TO STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART

WORDS BY ADREANA MENDEZ

You find yourself wanting to exercise, but you don’t know which exercises benefit each part of your body. We can fix that. Your heart is one of the most important muscles to strengthen, but it can be hard to know where to start.

Johns Hopkins exercise physiologist Kerry J. Stewart, Ed.D says, “Aerobic exercise and resistance training are the most important for heart health.”

We have some tips and tricks to help you learn about the benefits of strengthening your heart and the tricks for performing these different exercises.

WHAT IF I DON’T EXERCISE?

Regularly exercising your heart can reduce health complications. Your heart is a muscle that needs to be constantly strengthened against potential health issues. Heart disease, type two diabetes and cancer are just a few harmful consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. Staying heart-healthy by exercising and eating healthy foods can reduce your risk for heart complications.

AEROBIC EXERCISES

These exercises improve circulation. Some simple aerobic exercises you can perform to get that heart pumping include swimming, running and walking. Many doctors suggest performing these activities for at least 30 minutes each day to increase your heart rate.

SWIMMING

This is a great exercise to perform if you want to do something less tiring than running and still increase your heart rate. Studies show that swimming can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 30 to 40%. Swimming also reduces the risk of diabetes.

Just swimming for about 30 minutes three times each week can burn approximately 900 calories, reducing the risk for type 2 diabetes by 10%. The best swimming exercises include breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly stroke.

RUNNING

Running is a fabulous way to get your heart pumping! Before running, start with some simple stretches and then walk to warm up. If you’re a rookie runner, alternate between walking and jogging. Make sure to drink plenty of water when exercising, so take a water bottle with you if you can.

To run correctly, make sure you stand up tall, engage your core and glutes, swing your arms and step lightly. Remember to take deep breaths, so you don’t grow exhausted quickly. Once you find your rhythm, you’ll be running like a pro and taking care of your heart while you’re at it!

WALKING

It’s a simple activity you can do every day! You can walk at a normal pace or try speed walking, which is a great way to increase your heart rate. Just buy a good pair of shoes to support your weight, and you’re ready! To make walking even more fun, you can listen to some music, get lost in thought, admire the scenery (whether inside or outside) or listen to a podcast.

“Studies show that swimming can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 30 to 40%.”

RESISTANCE TRAINING

This keeps your heart healthy and keeps your weight under control. Resistance training helps reduce body fat, a risk factor for heart disease. In addition, studies indicate that combining aerobic exercise and resistance work may help raise HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

WEIGHT TRAINING

A general rule of thumb is exercising for at least two nonconsecutive days per week. Try working out with free weights (such as hand weights, dumbbells or barbells), weight machines or resistance bands. Other exercises include pushups, squats and chin-ups.

A general rule of thumb is exercising for at least two nonconsecutive days per week.

STRETCHING

Stretching is another simple exercise that can be done everywhere, depending on the stretch. While it doesn’t directly boost your heart, stretching is vital to the other exercises that maintain heart health and help build your musculoskeletal foundation.

Stretching before and after exercise ensures you aren’t pulling any muscles or straining any parts of your body. It’s also excellent for cooling down after a particularly intense workout. Imagine weight training and aerobic exercise in one day! Your muscles will surely need a good stretch after that! Hamstring stretches and lunges are great places to start.

A PARTING REMINDER

Your heart is a crucial muscle that needs to be constantly exercised. If you want to decrease the risk for any diseases or disorders associated with the heart, try to perform aerobic exercises, resistance training and stretches several times each week. Have fun pumping your heart!