Best Exercise for Heart Health & Lungs in 2022 – UPDATED
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Since the New Year has arrived upon us, many people set goals for the coming year. One of the most popular New Years resolutions is exercising more. Doing regular exercise for heart health can help improve the function and strength of the heart many studies have shown us.
However, what are the best exercises to improve heart health and increase lung function?
In this article we look at:
– The best exercises for heart health
– Exercises for heart and lungs
– The best exercise for heart blockage
We also look at the effects of exercise on the heart. And how this may convince you to exercise more in 2022. So, read on to learn more about the heart and lungs when exercising.
What is the Most Important Exercise for Heart Health?
If you wonder what the most important exercise for heart health is, you probably already know. Many people swear that running, walking, cycling, rowing, and team sports are the best forms of exercise for the heart. While this is true to some point, they all fall under the same category. And that category is Aerobic exercise.
Aerobic exercise is also known as cardio exercise. This form of exercise contracts most muscles in the body and helps to get your heart to beat faster. That makes aerobic exercise (or Cardio) the most important exercise for heart health.
Regular aerobic exercise benefits your cardiovascular system by improving the function of your heart and blood vessels.
Other benefits of aerobic exercise include:
– Improves the flow of oxygen to the muscles
– Lowers blood pressure and reduce cholesterol
– Reduces the chance of developing of cancer, heart disease, and strokes.
The key to improving overall heart health is to vary your exercise. There is no one fits all exercise that is best for heart health. So, knowing this you don’t need to employ the same exercise strategy all the time. What is most important is that you exercise regularly and this can be doing sports such as:
– Running
– Cycling
– Triathlon
– Rowing
– Walking
– Boxing
– Tennis etc
And the list goes on. However, the list above has one thing in common. They are all classed as a form of aerobic exercise.
Since we all have a daily routine whether this is brushing our teeth, taking a shower, or cooking dinner. Exercise should be part of this daily ritual.
Exercise for Heart Blockage – What Should You do?
Heart blockage and heart disease affect nearly 1 in 4 people in the United States. This just goes to show how important regular exercise is.
So knowing the affect heart disease and heart blockage have on the general public, what is the best exercise for heart blockage?
Doctors around the world recommend light aerobic training for at least 30 minutes a day. Examples of this include, light walking, running, swimming, and cycling. This has been shown to both prevent and improve overall heart health.
However, if you are dealing with a serious heart problem, speak with your doctor. Your doctor will recommend the best form of exercise based on your diagnosis.
What is the Best Exercise for Heart and Lungs?
While light forms of aerobic exercise benefit the heart, it just doesn’t cut it when it comes to improving the function of your lungs.
The best exercise for the heart and lungs is a variety of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Aerobic exercise as we have stated is lower intensity training, while anaerobic exercise includes high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or short bouts of explosive exercise.
So, what is the best exercise for the heart and lungs?
It is the exercise that varies the intensity between aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
That includes sports like running, football, circuit training, boxing, skiing, and cycling. All these sports vary consistently in intensity and help build the condition of your lungs. However, circuit training is generally regarded as one of the best forms of exercise to improve both heart and lung health. This is because circuit training includes exercises such as:
– Skipping
– Jumping jacks
– Running
– Weight lifting
– Bodyweight exercises
– High-intensity interval training (HIIT)
This type of training raises your heart rate and makes your heart pump harder. It also increases the amount of oxygen needed to pass through the lungs, strengthening your heart and lungs in the process.
Effects of Exercise on the Heart – What Should You Know
Regular exercise has been proven to improve overall health and wellbeing. But what are the effects of exercise on the heart?
Some of the effects you may see from regular exercise include:
– Improved blood flow
– Reduced stress hormones that affect the heart
– Decreases the chance of heart disease
– Decreased resting heart rate
– Ability to draw in deeper and longer breaths
Some of the short term effects on the heart include:
– Faster heart contractions which increase circulation
– Oxygenated blood travels to the muscles quicker
– More forceful heart contractions
As you can see, there are many positive effects of exercise on the heart. So if you are wanting to live a healthier life and have a strong heart and lungs, regular exercise is the way to go.
Varying the form exercise you do will help reap more benefits, improving your heart and lung function in the process. It will also help prevent loss of motivation or repetitive injures from doing the same movements all the time (i.e. running, cycling etc)
Conclusion
In April 2018, a study found that it is possible to reverse some of the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. The study showed that middle-aged men (40-64 years old) if they want to can help turn back time through regular exercise. This just shows how fitness and exercise can improve our overall health, more than any drug, surgery, or magic pill.
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