Good heart health starts with living a physically active lifestyle. As personal trainer Timothy Russell Dewhurst explains, being active is extremely effective at strengthening your heart muscle and preventing serious medical issues such as stroke and heart attack.
Aerobic exercises are often associated with cardiovascular health, though there are other types of workouts that are equally important.
Below, Timothy Russell Dewhurst explains different types of cardiovascular exercises, the impact they have on heart health, and ways you can design effective workouts to improve endurance and circulation.
Aerobics
Aerobic exercise contributes to improved circulation throughout your body and improves cardiac output. That leads to a lower heart rate as well as lower blood pressure — both of which help to prevent serious heart-related issues.
In addition, aerobic exercise helps your body control blood glucose, which can lower your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. If you already have diabetes, it can help you keep it under control.
In an ideal world, you should do aerobic exercises five days per week, for 30 minutes per time at least. Examples include walking briskly, swimming, running, jumping rope, biking, and even playing sports.
Resistance
Resistance, also known as strength training, is equally as important to cardiovascular health. It works best for heart health when done in combination with aerobic exercise.
Resistance training helps your body have muscle mass that’s leaner and reduces fat within your body. It also works to lower your bad cholesterol (LDL) while raising your good cholesterol (HDL).
Ideally, you will integrate resistance training into your regimen two days each week, but not two days in a row. Examples of resistance training include anything with weights — either using weight machines or free weights. You can also use resistance bands and do exercises such as chin-ups, push-ups, and squats — all of which use your own body weight as the resistance.
Stretching
While not a direct contributor to good heart health, stretching does help your body stay flexible, which helps you avoid muscular issues such as cramping and joint pain. Stretching helps you to remain flexible, which also helps you to continue performing resistance training and aerobic exercise.
In other words, Timothy Russell Dewhurst says that stretching and other workouts that promote flexibility benefit your overall musculoskeletal health. When you’re able to establish a solid musculoskeletal foundation, you’ll be able to complete the exercises that will best benefit your heart.
In addition, when you do balance and flexibility exercises, you’ll also be putting yourself in a better position to have better stability, which can help prevent falls as well as other injuries.
Stretching before and after you exercise every time is always a good idea. You also should integrate stretching into your weekly routine at least a few times per week, even when you’re not exercising.
There are many basic stretches that you can complete on your own time, at your own pace, and in your own home.
About Timothy Russell Dewhurst
Timothy Russell Dewhurst is a personal trainer based out of Sydney, Australia. He is passionate about helping his clients reach their goals and maintain healthy lifestyles. Tim works with all fitness levels and has helped numerous individuals reignite their motivation to work out. He specialises in strength and cardio training, marathon training, and yoga to improve strength and mobility. Tim Dewhurst wants to help clients create a realistic and sustainable regimen that meets each individual’s unique needs.