Best exercise for your heart
Published: 11:03 PM, 23 February 2019

Photo: Collected
When considering the benefits of exercising, losing weight and “getting ripped” might be the first things to come to mind. But there’s a benefit that is way more crucial: keeping a healthy heart.
Your heart is the most important muscle in your body, so it deserves some attention too, right? Let’s take a look at some of the best exercises to keep your heart strong and reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.
Aerobics
Aerobic exercises, also known as cardio, are designed to raise your heart rate and make you break a sweat. Aerobics help to improve your circulation and lower your blood pressure. If you have diabetes, they can also help you control your blood sugar level.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that every adult should get at least two hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise a week, at intervals of 10 minutes or more. Some examples of moderate-intensity aerobics are:
Going for a brisk walk
Biking on flat terrain
Taking a leisurely swim
Tardening
Dancing
If you’re big on working out but short on time, you can meet the CDC’s guidelines with one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise. These strenuous workouts are meant to get you breathing hard and increase your heart rate significantly. Examples of vigorous-intensity aerobics include:
Jogging
Biking 10 mph or faster
Swimming laps
Playing soccer
Hiking uphill
It’s also OK to do a mix of moderate and vigorous-intensity aerobics during the week if you prefer. As a rule of thumb, one minute of vigorous-intensity exercise is about equal to two minutes of moderate-intensity aerobics.
Don’t feel pressure to push yourself too hard, though. If you want to meet your weekly aerobics requirements strictly from walking, that’s perfectly fine. Walking is a great low-impact exercise that will give you all of the health benefits of a more intense workout, without overexerting yourself.
Strength training
Strength training (sometimes called resistance training) is another great way to improve your heart health. When combined with aerobics, strength training will help to raise good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. It can also reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Both the CDC and the American Heart Association suggest you participate in strength training exercises at least twice a week (on nonconsecutive days).
Ideally, these strength training sessions should work all of your major muscle groups: arms, legs, hips, chest, shoulders, abs, and back. Although this might sound intimidating, it’s far from the weightlifting and bodybuilding you see on TV. Some examples of strength training exercise include:
Lifting free weights
Using resistance bands
Doing pushups
Doing situps
Doing squats
Strength training exercises should be done in sets. Each set should consist of 8 to 12 repetitions, or until it becomes difficult for you to perform another repetition without help.
Flexibility
Although they may not influence your heart health directly, flexibility and stretching exercises can contribute a lot to your workout. Activities like yoga, tai chi, and Pilates will not only improve your flexibility and balance, but also decrease your chances of getting cramps, joint aches, and muscle pain while working out.
Flexibility exercises make it easier to do the other types of physical activities that are necessary for a healthy heart. The great thing about flexibility training is that you can do it anytime, anywhere. Whether it’s warming up before a workout, taking a hot yoga class, or just doing some stretches in your living room, improving your flexibility is always a good idea if you’re serious about heart health.
For more information about the exercises to keep your heart healthy, consult your doctor.
DailyBangladesh/Prince
- Best exercise for your heart
- Truck carrying aid crosses border: OPPO MP
- Golden jubilee of Bangabandhu title observed
- Palestinians’ pray in long-closed part of Al-Aqsa
- Toxic liquor death stood 102 in Assam
- Sanai’s wedding tunes with ex-Minister
- Venezuela soldiers abandon posts at Colombia border
- PM releases stamp on Bangabandhu title’s golden jubilee
- Fire guilty should be trialed: GM Quader
- Chemical found! Dail 9556014
- Scout for free from militant, drugs: AG Minister
- Snow to strike Britain again freeze!
- Chemical godowns shift starts
- Tobacco use Loss over Tk 30,000 cr per yr
- Our fight is for Kashmir, Not against Kashmiris: Modi
- Vidya on banning Pakistani artistes in India
- 300 vehicles on fire near Bengaluru Air Show
- Mithila again in love!
- Savings Week 2019 begins in Rajshahi
- John Keats recall; Physician to Poet
- Mendis, Fernando carry Sri Lanka to historic win
- Cleanliness crush program in RMCH
- BCL declers Shovon-Rabbani pannel
- Marshall Islands consider radical measures
- NASA’s new DNA for alien search
- Salman Shah`s death report submission date deferred again
- Guaido defies travel ban
- AL nomination meeting today
- Assam toxic liquor death toll mounts to 84
- Mola in ponds improves others` nutritional quality
- All News »
- Pakistan summons Indian envoy to protest `baseless allegations`
- Another spell of gas suspension in Capital Tuesday
- 16 burnt, 50 injured in Churihatta fire
- JnU BCL committee dissolved
- BCL factional clash hurt 45 in JnU
- Daily Bangladesh mourns death in Chawkbazar fire
- 1 killed as tree fall in capital, 7 injured
- Drug trader hurt in Chatmohor gunfight
- Mithun`s fifty takes Bangladesh to 226
- Gas supply shutdown in Dhaka including Savar
- Nation set to pay homage to language martyrs
- Ali, employee of Daily Bangladesh, injured in road crash
- Barcelona, Man City to play tonight
- Japan probe Hayabusa2 makes asteroid landing
- NZ clinch ODI series 2-0 against Tigers
- “’Fagun Haway’ will inspire new generation in patriotism”
- Death toll in Nigeria attack doubles to 130
- Samsung to launch US retail stores in smartphone push
- Prominent poet Al Mahmud dies
- Last tributes to poet Al Mahmud at Bangla Academy
- 1st phase of nomination withdrawal ends today
- General Osmani’s 35th death anniversary today
- Sadhan urges officials to brighten up govt image
- Zulfikar Ali will survive if he got your help
- SERG Zahurul Haque’s death anniversary observed
- No pardon for drug traders: IGP
- India shouldn`t play Pakistan in World Cup: Harbhajan
- Maduro blasts US for ‘stealing’
- Saudi Arabia strikes $10bn China deal
- Shop gutted in Sylhet fire