People think that any form of exercise can improve heart health, though this idea is mostly true. There are certain exercises that can help boost heart health to the maximum. You don’t need to be one of those gym buffs that spend 9 hours in the gym. Moderate exercise is enough to improve heart health, prevent heart disease and improve the endurance.
Any form of exercise is better than none at all, but try out these top exercises for heart health and reap the benefits of having improved cardiovascular health and endurance.
Swimming
Swimming is one of the best exercise for the heart and lungs. Not only is swimming fun, but you get more than you give. Swimming in a pool allows you to work your legs, arms, core, cardio, back, buns and more at the same time. It is also a great time investment, swimming in a pool for a short period can burn a lot of calories.
If you’re planning to use swimming as part of an exercise regime try out lane swimming. Lane swimming is usually done in Olympics size pools with a designated lane, thus the name. You perform lane swimming with different swim techniques such as the breast stroke or back crawl.
Perform different techniques every time you practice lane swimming. Practicing and mastering one swim technique will increase your fitness level. The heart health benefit of swimming is the water resistance with cardio. Water allows the body to perform cardio exercises longer than you would when you are running or cycling. You are able to perform cardio exercises for a longer period, thus enhancing your endurance and heart rate.
Core Workouts
Having a strong foundation will help you perform tasks with ease instead of exerting too much force or energy. You can easily carry your baby around the whole day with affluence to performing wall busting Tae Bo kicks.
A strong core can help lessen the strain on the heart. If you have problems walking up and down the stairs due to poor endurance and core. Building up the core muscles will help you lessen the strain in your heart and allow you to work out for a longer period thus enhancing endurance.
Interval Training
This one of the best workouts for preventing weight gain, diabetes, weight loss and heart disease. Practicing interval training can help improve overall fitness and of course heart health. What exactly is interval training?
This is a combination of high intensity exercises with low intensity exercises that work as an active recovery. You can perform interval training with a treadmill. You can set 5 minutes of walking to 2 minutes of running or jogging depending on your fitness level for a continual cycle of 30 minutes. You can also perform this with no equipment.
You can perform high intensity movements such as burpees, jumping jacks and jogging with intervals of low intensity exercises such as lunges and squats. Interval training works to improve heart rate by continuously lowering and raising the heart rate. Doing this will improve metabolic rate, increase calories burned and better vascular function. This will also enhance the body’s ability to filter and remove sugar and fat from the blood.
Weight Training
Weight training like interval training uses the technique of lowering and raising the heart rate to improve heart health. You manage to increase your heart rate between reps and lower the heart rate between sets. When your muscles become stronger or more toned you are able to perform usual activities with ease, this will lower the strain on your heart. If you work out your arms every week, then your next grocery shopping visit will be a piece of cake. Improve your muscles by performing free weight at least three times a week and tone different muscles in the body to build balance.
Worst Exercises for the Heart
- Performing high intensity and vigorous exercise that the body is not trained to perform. This can range from running in a marathon with little training or biking for a long period of time with no practice before hand.
- Running on hard pavement, it is said to cause multiple injuries in knees, ankles and the legs. This can cause strain on the heart. Before running on hard pavement consult a fitness professional about the right running shoes or equipment.
No matter what exercise you choose from above, a regular 30 minutes, five times a week workout is essential to help improve heart health. Especially for beginners, if you start to get the hang of 30 minutes, then increase your workout time to an hour.
