Heart there is only one and our only job is to take care of it. If you have put aside the care of this important organ, it is time to take it up again. Here we show you the best types of exercise to take care of the heart .
According to the American Heart Association, the leading cause of death worldwide is cardiovascular disease (including stroke and heart disease), which kills more than 17.9 million lives each year.
The most advisable thing to have a healthy heart is to lead a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced diet, physical exercise with moderate intensity, stress control, etc. But, in addition, if you have any type of injury or ailment, it is best to put yourself in the hands of specialists to follow up.
Exercise for the heart
If your heart is in perfect condition, there are some activities that are very good to keep it healthy and exercised. The most important thing is to choose a sport or routines that we like and motivate. In this way, they can be maintained over time as a lifestyle.
Walk
For people who have little time or do not like to practice sports, walking is the best ally. In addition, it has multiple benefits such as: avoiding diabetes, hypertension and obesity. It increases the size of the heart and makes it stronger.
Just by walking about 15 minutes a day at a brisk pace, you will notice the difference. In our daily life we can find the perfect moments to encourage walks:
- Get off one stop earlier when going by bus.
- Use the car and public transport less.
- Go up and down more stairs. Avoid escalators and elevators.
Swim
Swimming offers multiple benefits for both the body and the mind. The cardiovascular system is one of the parts of the body that most benefits from the practice of this sport. It helps lower blood cholesterol, improves circulation, and most importantly: all these benefits are achieved without damaging the joints.
Try to swim well both in the pool and in the sea, and see how good this exercise will do you to take care of your heart .
To run
If you want a more intense and uncomplicated activity, running is one of the best aerobic exercises . Provides great benefits for the circulatory system. Best of all, you only need good shoes and a lot of attitude to practice it.
One of the advantages of this activity is that it can be run both indoors and outdoors . It is advisable to gradually increase the intensity and distance, according to the physical condition of each person.
Dancing, an activity to take care of the heart
In addition to being fun, dancing has great health benefits. It is a joyful activity that helps relieve stress while preventing obesity, improving blood circulation, helping to keep your heart strong, and improving lung capacity.
Dance at home, dance in the street, dance at the disco, but dance! It is the most fun way to keep your heart healthy .
Cycling
Like running, cycling is an aerobic activity that has great benefits for blood pressure . It can be done outdoors or at home, if you have an exercise bike.
Among the most recommended activities to take care of the heart, is going by bicycle. It is a sport that allows you to control the intensity and does not affect the joints.
Zumba, an exercise to take care of the heart
It is not an activity only for those who know how to dance. It is a fun physical activity in which steps and choreography are learned . It is very accessible, since it can be practiced either with an instructor or simply at home with the help of Zumba videos. The degree of difficulty will depend on the physical condition of the person.
The key to improving cardiovascular health with this activity is that during the 60 minutes you can mix slow and fast rhythms with series of exercises. With this exercise, you can also tone the muscles and burn up to 600 calories per session.
FitDance
It is a directed aerobic class and consists of the execution of choreographic movements focused on muscle improvement and training . The good thing about the FitDance is its versatility. Not everyone approaches it in the same way, but in the one that suits them best. That is, some focus on it to lose weight, others to learn choreography, and many to improve their heart health.
It looks a lot like Zumba, but they differ in that the FitDance has a lot more fitness moves than dance steps.
Balance diet
Having a healthy heart doesn't just depend on physical activity. Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet is also key to good cardiovascular health. Special care must be taken with excessive consumption of salt and sugar, so it is advisable to eat foods rich in fiber and monitor cholesterol.
Likewise, you should reduce the consumption of saturated fats and avoid trans fats above all. However, omega-3 fatty acids (belonging to the group of unsaturated fats) are essential for the proper functioning and vitality of the heart . Therefore, it is important to eat at least 250mg / day, an amount recommended by the WHO.
In addition, it is ideal to incorporate nuts, enriched milk into the diet, since with a glass we would be taking 50% of the recommended daily amount of omega-3.
Forget bad habits
One of the biggest tips for a healthy heart is to put bad habits aside . Among the main ones we can mention excessive alcohol consumption, which produces an increase in blood pressure, which is related to the onset of cardiovascular diseases.
Likewise, tobacco is another bad habit that should be avoided, since it leads to an overexertion of the heart by reducing the caliber of the arteries. All of this increases the risk of thrombosis. Carbon monoxide and nicotine can dangerously increase the heart rate, causing a decrease in the quality and quantity of oxygen in the blood.
