exercise for a healthy heart

1. Your heart is a muscle. Exercise can strengthen that muscle. Exercise aids in strengthening your heart and therefore improving the health of your heart. Lowering blood pressure, aiding in reducing blood sugar, improving blood flow, lowering  LDL cholesterol, and reducing psychological stress are  some of the major benefits that come from an exercise program. 
2. Exercise will make your heart function more efficiently and become more healthy. Both aerobic and resistance training exercises are beneficial to the health of the heart. The American College of Sports Medicine and The American Heart Association recommend achieving a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise each week, with sessions of about 30 minutes at least 5 days out of the week. 
3. Improvements in aerobic fitness will help to improve cardiac output ( helping your heart pump blood more efficiently) and reduction in your resting heart rate. Examples of aerobic exercises include brisk walking, cycling , swimming, dancing , and rowing.  We know this can be easier said than done. 
4. The truth is any movement or exercise is better than none. However, according to studies at the Mayo Clinic,  sessions lasting a minimum of 20 minutes show significant  improvements for aerobic fitness and  factors related to heart health.  
5. Resistance training will help in the reduction of body fat, increasing lean muscle mass, and increasing bone density.  Two resistance training sessions a week are recommended and should be performed on non- consecutive days to allow for recovery and reduction in injury risk.  Examples of resistance training are body weight exercises, use of free weights, and/ or with weight machines.   

Getting started on a  consistent routine can be difficult. Let us help!