10 Best Heart Friendly Exercises
Heart failure can be an early indication that maybe you should take it easy. This is because it is not able to pump blood to the rest of the body as effectively. This doesn’t mean that you should abandon physical activities altogether. Hey there welcome to this blog post “10 Best Heart Friendly Exercises – Keep Your Heart Healthy.“
Over 6 million people in the US are living with heart failure. While dietary changes and medications may be helpful, when the time is right, the correct exercises will help to strengthen it. Completely stopping all physical activities is a primitive way of dealing with this condition.
But there are some exercises that can make heart failure patients feel much better. Is it okay to do some stretching exercises? We bet yoga is harmless. Today we will be talking about all the heart safe exercises.
Let’s start off by choosing the right exercise plan. If you’ve recently suffered heart failure, then start off by doing some low impact, light exercises like walking or cycling. No matter what the exercises are, it is vital to incorporate a brief 5 minutes of warm up before beginning and some upper body stretches at the end to cool down.
If you just stop exercising all of a sudden it may lead to dizziness and lightheadedness. Some other important things to keep in mind while taking up exercising after a heart failure include: Avoid exercises that need you to hold your breath like push ups, sit ups, and exercises that hold a position rather than move.
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Remember to wait for at least an hour after eating before exercising. Avoid exercises that need a sudden burst of energy like High intensity interval training or boxing. Choose morning for exercising since this is the time of the day when people, especially heart patients, have the most energy. Avoid doing it when there is even a mild fever.
Do not exercise if the weather outside is extreme like high humidity. Now here are some of the safest exercises for heart failure patients:
Yoga
Yoga has a long history of holistic healing that includes mental and physical well being. This therapy improves the quality of life and cardiovascular functioning. It involves mindful breathing techniques and poses that reduces
stress, anxiety, and depression which is great news for heart health!
Yoga poses like seated forward bend, extended triangle, and half spinal twist are some of the poses that are heart friendly. What’s your favorite activity to de-stress? Share your ideas in the comments section!
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Meditation
Meditation is a mindful practice that helps in greatly reducing the chances of developing heart disease. It does more than just improve heart function. It enhances your outlook on life, helps you get adequate sleep, and maintains regular heart healthy behavior.
The main goal of meditative practice is to sit still, focus on your breathing while also focussing on only one word or image. This helps lower blood pressure which also lowers mortality rates related to heart disease.
Tai Chi
Tai chi is a gentle heart friendly exercise. It involves deep breathing. Which enhances oxygen intake and lowers shortness of breath which is very common among heart failure patients.
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Various studies have shown that practicing tai chi regularly improves the quality of life while lowering anxiety, stress, and depression. It is also a great way to stay in shape for patients living with heart bypass surgery.
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Walking
Walking is one physical activity that is underrated when it comes to its health benefits, especially for heart patients. Going for a brisk walk, 5 days a week, lowers the chances of developing cardiovascular problems in the future.
In case of heart failure patients, slow walking for less than 30 minutes will keep the heart healthy. Did you know that when compared with fast walking, slow or brisk walking has shown more benefits? This is because fast paced walking causes breathlessness and fatigue which is not great for heart patients.
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Strength Training
This may sound unusual but strength training has its benefits. Contrary to popular belief, lifting weights for less than an hour a week can reduce the chances of heart attack by 40 to 70%.
Heart patients who do strength training like squats, push ups or glute bridges, build up their aerobic capacity, flexibility and strength. It is also a great way to combat symptoms of arthritis, diabetes, back pain, and even depression. However, patients with unstable coronary heart disease like angina should do this training in a controlled and limited manner.
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Stretching
Stretching before any exercise is a rule of thumb and for heart failure patients it is a blessing. It improves flexibility by expanding the arteries and improves heart function. In short, the more flexible you are the better your heart function is.
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Just 12 weeks of passive stretching will improve blood flow and improve
heart health which lowers the risk of stroke and heart attack. Proper stretching followed by some aerobic exercise improves vascular health.
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Cardiac Rehab
Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program that is designed to improve heart health after an episode of heart attack, surgery, or failure. It’s a combination of exercise counseling and training; education for healthy living and stress reduction counseling.
The primary focus of this program is to help heart patients recover from heart failure and lead a healthy lifestyle. These programs are mainly tailored according to the patient’s requirements. These include lifestyle changes like choosing a healthier diet and doing heart friendly exercises.
Resistance Training
Contrary to popular belief, doing light resistance training like free weights, dumbbells, medicine balls or weight machines is great for heart patients! This kind of training builds lean muscle mass and allows the cardiovascular system to pump blood properly everywhere in the body.
Doing such exercises lowers the pressure on arteries and decreases the chances of developing heart related problems. Remember that these exercises are beneficial when you take it easy, do not strain yourself much, and maintain proper breathing.
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Swimming
When we talk about swimming we don’t mean going all out! It works the lungs and heart which trains the body to utilize oxygen in the best way. After a light swimming session, you will even experience a decline in resting heart
rate and breathing.
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Since this activity is a whole body exercise, it improves strength and
flexibility as well. Remember to consult your doctor first before getting into it! Looking to improve fat absorption? Here are How to Improve Fat Absorption – 5 Best Effective Ways! Now back to our topic 10 best heart friendly exercises.
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Water Aerobics
Aquatic exercises are great for heart health! If swimming is not the thing for you, then water aerobics will be a good choice. Aquatic exercises improve heart conditions while improving muscular endurance and strength.
When you immerse yourself in water, it has a different effect on the body as compared to working out on land. This low impact pool workout is also great for people suffering from balance issues, osteoporosis, and joint injuries. Walking in water, back wall glide, arm lifts, and water jumping jacks are some exercises included in water aerobics.
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Red Flags
At the height of any workout, breathing should be a little harder, but not so much that talking becomes impossible. Your heart rate will be a lot higher than normal and a burning sensation will be felt in the muscles, a sign that they’ve worked hard. These are the red flags that you may be pushing it too hard:
Chest pain – chest discomfort is a sign of exertion which causes a spasm in the airways. It is a common occurrence in case you have heart disease and
is indicative that it’s time to stop and rest.
Continue Reading – 10 Best Heart Friendly Exercises
Shortness of breath – if you are experiencing shortness of breath while exercising, something that was not a problem a few months ago, then there is something wrong.
Lightheadedness – lightheadedness happens mostly after exercise which is a sign of dehydration. This also happens in people taking blood pressure lowering medication. However, too much lightheadedness indicates problems in the heart or lungs.
Joint pain – arthritis is a common cause of joint pain, but usually, this pain goes away with regular exercising. If the pain is focused on one particular joint and doesn’t loosen up then there is definitely something wrong.
Other red flags include weakness, unexplained weight gain or loss, pressure, or pain in the neck, shoulder, or jaw. Living with heart problems doesn’t mean giving up on all physical activity. With the right exercises, you can enjoy a healthy physical and mental balance. After all, it is these activities that make us feel happier. For more information on how to keep your heart healthy…
Check out this article How to Stop Heart Palpitations – 7 Best Home Remedies. Also, How to Prevent Heart Attack – 8 Foods Also Clean Your Arteries. These 2 articles will help you to keep your heart healthy. What habits have you made to keep your heart beating happily? Share your ideas in the comments.
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