Heart Disease
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6. EXERCISE AND HEART DISEASE
Importance of Exercise for Heart Health
6.1 Your heart is a muscle. Exercise, even if you haven’t been active for a while, helps your heart to become stronger, so that it is able to pump more blood efficiently giving you more stamina and energy. It also improves the ability of your body’s tissues to extract oxygen from your blood, helping you maintain healthy levels of blood fat and speed your metabolism.
6.2 Having a healthy cardiovascular system, which supplies blood and oxygen to every part of the body, is the key to living a longer, energetic and healthier life. And the secret of getting there is exercise. Being sedentary is the biggest risk factor for heart disease compared to smoking, hypertension and raised cholesterol levels.
6.3 To prevent and cure heart disease and other lifestyle illnesses and to improve general health, it is important to make exercise a part of your life. And while it is important to exercise on a regular basis, it is also important to add routine physical activity ranging from washing dishes and climbing stairs. Bring exercise to your work place also. Include physical activity in your working schedule – cycle to work, take the stairs instead of the lift, go to gym or walk and/or window shopping during lunch breaks. Keep your in-trays/out-trays further away from your desk. Walk to interact with staff/colleagues rather than call them to your office.
Aerobic Exercises
6.4 Cardiovascular aerobic exercises are best to prevent and cure coronary heart diseases. These target the large muscles of the body and create an increased demand for oxygen, improve the heart, circulatory and pulmonary systems. Aerobic exercise is any kind of activity that increases your breathing rate and gets you to breathe more deeply. Examples of aerobic exercises to begin with are brisk walking, jogging, hiking, cycling, gardening, stair climbing, dancing. In the longer term, exercises such as tennis, swimming, rowing and badminton can be introduced. But people having risk factors for heart disease should avoid more strenuous sports such as squash and weight lifting.
6.5 During exercise, e.g. brisk walking, you should be able to walk and talk at the same time. If you can’t, then the activity is too strenuous. However, if you experience chest pain, dizziness, nausea, cramp-like pains in legs, breathlessness for more than ten minutes, palpitation, fluid retention (swollen ankles, sudden weight gain), stop exercising and consult your doctor.
General Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
6.6 Exercise improves the functioning of all the body systems including: it can stimulate digestion, improve circulation, aid detoxification, stimulates the nervous system and above all strengthens your heart. Your brain and mental capacity too can benefit with improvement in memory, coordination, clear thinking and speed of learning. Exercise reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by improving blood circulation throughout the body, increasing good HDL cholesterol, decreasing bad LDL cholesterol and keeping body weight under control. Best of all, regular exercise coupled with healthy eating habits and positive/cheerful attitude will help you live longer, healthier, fulfilling and happier life. In other words exercise can add years to your life and life to your years!
