Regular exercise can be helpful in preventing cardiovascular risk factors, maintaining a healthy cardiovascular system, and promoting rehabilitation after a cardiac event.
Even just a single 30-minutes exercise session can produce immediate benefits and exert a protective short-lasting effect on hearth health through a process called ischemic preconditioning. Ischemic preconditioning describes how exercise can train the heart to adapt to situations of insufficient blood flow. This acquired adaptive capacity can be protective against cardiac events such as heart attack.
Over time, regular endurance exercise improves the heart’s physiology and contractility reducing the effort required to pump the blood. Additionally, the parasympathetic nervous system can become less reactive resulting in lower blood pressure and heart rate. Overall, changes in vascular endothelial and myocardial health protect against cardiovascular risk factors including hyperglycemia, obesity, blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends prescribing exercise post a cardiac event such as stroke to improve cardiovascular health.
The AHA recommends:
- At least 2.5 hours of weekly moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of weekly high-intensity activity or a combination of both
- Gradually increasing time and intensity of exercise
- Incorporating resistance training to build muscles
1. How to improve heart health with aerobic exercise?
Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise improves circulation and lowers blood pressure. Aerobic exercise includes those activities designed to increase the heart rate to burn calories and fats and additionally strengthen the heart. Some common cardio exercises include fast walking, swimming, dancing, and cycling.
The CDC suggests that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 2.5 hours per week
- lowers the risk for cardiovascular diseases
- reduces the risk of stroke
- lowers blood pressure
- regulates levels of cholesterols
- regulates blood sugar
- reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome
A popular option is interval training. Interval training combines short high-intensity cardio exercise (e.g., running) with longer active recovery periods (e.g., walking). It is important to keep in mind that high-intensity exercise is not recommended in elderly people with congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease.
2. How to improve heart health with resistance training exercise?
Resistance or weight training helps to build muscle mass and burns fats. Animal studies suggest a potential of resistance training in improving cardiac function, contractility, blood pressure, and endothelial dysfunction. However, human studies are controversial: isometric resistance training may be beneficial for cardiac function in younger people but not in older adults.
Currently, it seems that resistance training could be incorporated in combination to endurance exercises to enhance the effects of aerobic fitness on heart health.8
3. How to improve heart health with coordinative exercise?
Coordination is the foundation of many exercises and, through the combination of balance, flexibility, breathing and relaxation exercises, it might have some potential in improving heart health.
It has been shown that Tai Chi may improve heart health in older adults; the intensity and volume of exercise have to be furthered studied.
Yoga has been suggested as a possible activity to incorporate to prevent cardiovascular disease since it may contribute to reduce stress, blood pressure, cholesterol, and regulate blood glucose.Additionally, it has been found that yoga could be beneficial in cardiac rehabilitation after coronary artery bypass.Large high-quality multicenter studies are required to confirm the preventive and rehabilitative potential of yoga on heart health.
Pilates strengthens core muscles, improves balance and flexibility. In people suffering from chronic cardiovascular diseases, it can improve exercise tolerance. It has been shown that in obese females, pilates not only reduces body fat but also improves vascular function, hypertension, and cardiovascular complications.
It has been found that even a single pilates session can show promising results in lowering blood pressure.In combination with aerobic exercise its effects could be potentiated since it has been found that practicing pilates under hypoxic conditions elicits an additive effect on the metabolic and cardiac responses.
Always speak with your healthcare provider before beginning any exercise plan, to make sure it is right for you.
Ideal Health 