Want A Healthier Heart? Start with These Key Exercises.
CaroMont Health and Wellness personal trainer Jake Turney works with patients to emphasize the importance of exercise. He explains that frequent exercise decreases your risk of heart disease because it helps improve cholesterol, regulate weight, lower blood pressure and even reduce stress.
You can’t exactly exercise your heart, but there are workouts that can help improve your heart health.
Turney suggests incorporating HIIT, or high intensity interval training, into your exercise routine to help build cardio capacity and boost heart health. Turney elaborates: “HIIT is quick, intense bursts of exercise followed by short rest periods to keep your heart rate high.”
A few favorite HIIT exercises include: running mixed with interval sprints, rowing with periods of intense effort, jump squats, tuck jumps and mountain climbers. Turney says, “These quick bursts of exercise challenge your lungs and heart to work harder to deliver oxygen and blood to the muscle cells, thus increasing your cardiovascular fitness level.”
If we’re being honest, some of us don’t have the time or effort to go rowing or hiking every day, and that’s okay. Turney suggests swapping in some easy (and still beneficial) alternatives like walking the dog, playing a sport, taking the stairs at work, choosing to park further away, biking, swimming and dancing.
To maintain a healthy heart, you should aim to work out for at least 150 minutes per week at a moderate intensity, or 75 minutes at a high intensity. Try five, 30-minute sessions per week to get started, like going for a walk through your neighborhood or a bike ride with your kids.
At the end of the day, the goal is to decrease your risk of heart disease, and exercise is a necessary part of maintaining a healthy heart. So, grab your significant other, your bestie or your grandkids and get moving—your heart will thank you!
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