Most people know that the heart is a muscle, but it is easy to ignore what this means for heart health. Like any other muscle, the heart becomes stronger when exercised regularly, gets the energy it needs, and rests properly without being subjected to unnecessary stress or damage. Obviously, this is not a common muscle, but it is the most important one in the body. Whether you are thinking of developing your other muscles or not, remember to prioritize the essential one: the heart.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Exercise the Heart Muscle
Step 1. Talk to your doctor
Making your heart stronger with physical activity may prove to be as simple as taking a daily walk, but it is essential to have your physical condition (general and heart) undergo a professional evaluation. If you train too hard or too fast, ignore underlying health conditions, or set the wrong activity routine, you could do more harm than good.
Discuss current risk factors for heart disease with your doctor and undergo a general assessment of your heart health condition. Once you've established your starting point, you can work with him to develop a training regimen that will strengthen the muscle and hopefully reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease
Step 2. Get up and start moving
Unlike other muscles, the heart is always active, but long sedentary pauses are not a stimulus to make it stronger. Just standing instead of sitting and walking back and forth rather than standing still allows the heart to work with a little more intensity. Move from an inactive lifestyle to a more dynamic one to succeed and halve the risk of heart disease at the same time.
Even just half an hour of light or moderate activity per day is of great benefit. A 30-minute (or three 10-minute) evening walk is enough for most people to reap the health benefits
Step 3. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week
In addition to getting into the habit of getting up and moving often, you should also commit to two and a half hours of moderate intensity training each week to make your heart stronger. Alternatively, based on your fitness level and your doctor's advice, you can do 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week for the same results.
- During moderate exercise, your heart and breathing rates increase, but don't stop you from holding a conversation. Brisk walking, dancing, gardening, raking leaves, pushing a stroller, or playing with children are all moderate activities for many people.
- Break up your training into sessions to fit your schedule. Move for ten minutes or more each time, according to your schedule; don't avoid exercising just because you can't spend an uninterrupted half hour on it.
- When you do vigorous exercise, your breathing is so labored that you cannot converse. Your doctor should determine the right intensity level for your heart's health.
Step 4. Integrate the routine with strength training sessions
There are no weight exercises that are specific to the heart, as it is a single muscle with a very specific function. However, normal strength training allows you to engage it and improve your overall physical condition, which means that the heart does its job more easily.
To build and maintain muscle mass, as well as benefit your heart, try to dedicate two or three sessions of strength exercise each week; based on your level of athletic training, you can decide whether or not to use weights. Again, you need to see your doctor to find out what kind of strength activity you can do; if you overdo it or follow a bad technique, you can damage the heart
Part 2 of 3: Supporting Heart Health
Step 1. Eat a healthy diet
Excessive amounts of saturated fat, sodium and sugar reduce the diameter of blood vessels or can clog them, forcing the heart to work harder and in the wrong way. as a result, the cardiovascular system becomes inefficient and may even be damaged. Heart-healthy foods, on the other hand, promote more efficient function, helping to strengthen the heart and vascular system.
- Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins, minerals and fiber which can prevent the formation of atherosclerotic plaques; for this purpose, the fibers that come from whole grains are also very useful.
- Lean proteins, such as those from chicken, fish, legumes and low-fat yogurt, provide important nutrients without going overboard with saturated fat. Some protein food sources are also rich in omega 3 fatty acids which, in simple terms, lubricate blood vessels allowing the cardiovascular system to function smoothly.
- The new dietary guidelines suggest making changes to individual habits and including a wide variety of healthy foods in your diet. The Mediterranean diet and a predominantly vegetarian diet are excellent sources of inspiration, but it is necessary to calibrate the daily portions according to age, gender and level of physical activity.
Step 2. Drink alcohol in moderation
There is growing evidence that moderate alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by perhaps a third. However, exceeding the recommended limits means eliminating these benefits and alcohol abuse leads to numerous heart conditions or related ailments.
- One or two drinks per day (up to a maximum of 14 per week) are considered a "moderate" dose and appear to be beneficial to the vascular and heart systems. An average of 15 drinks or more per week starts to become a bad habit, while exceeding 21 drinks (or more than 4 per day) is excessive and harms your body.
- A standard dose of alcohol corresponds to 500 ml of ordinary beer, 2/3 of a glass of wine or 45 ml of spirits.
Step 3. Get enough sleep
An adult individual needs to rest on average 7-9 hours every night; however, many people do not respect this indication. The heart, like any other part of the body, needs periods of relative rest to "recharge" for the next day's activities. A restful night regenerates the body, including the heart muscle, as well as reducing stress and blood pressure.
- If you wake up in the morning without an alarm and feel invigorated, that means you've got enough sleep.
- Studies show that people who sleep 7-9 hours a night have fewer calcium deposits in the arteries (which obstruct blood flow) than individuals who do not respect this limit in excess or in excess.
- Do some research to find out how many hours of rest you need, to find tips on diet, exercise, stress management techniques, and how to quit smoking.
Step 4. Work with your doctor
In addition to getting an assessment of your current physical condition and advice on strengthening your heart muscle, discuss your concerns and risks of developing cardiovascular disease with him. Consider any medications that suit your situation, as well as lifestyle changes. If you opt for medicines, take them according to the prescription and inform the doctor of any side effects you experience.
- For example, your doctor may recommend statins to lower bad cholesterol, beta blockers to lower blood pressure and heart rate, or calcium channel blockers to relax artery walls. in some cases, he may prescribe a reduced daily dose of aspirin to thin the blood and make it less likely to form a blood clot.
- Modern medicine works wonders, but ultimately it's up to you to make the changes needed to strengthen the heart and avoid the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Part 3 of 3: Avoiding Unnecessary Stress
Step 1. Lower the excessive concentration of LDL cholesterol, blood pressure value and / or blood sugar
Making the heart muscle work harder through exercise is a beneficial process that strengthens it; the stress caused by narrowed blood vessels or blocked arteries makes it less efficient and enormously increases the risk of diseases, such as heart attack and stroke. All of these factors represent a significant risk of cardiovascular disease, but they can be controlled and eliminated through diet, physical activity and medication.
- LDL (called "bad") cholesterol adheres to arterial walls reducing blood flow, while HDL ("good" cholesterol) helps keep arteries patent. To reduce the LDL concentration it is necessary to combine an increase in physical exercise with a reduction in the intake of saturated and trans fats and possibly also with the intake of cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins, but under strict medical supervision.
- High blood pressure indicates the force that blood exerts on the walls of the arteries and can damage them making them more prone to blockages. A blood pressure level of 120/80 (systolic / diastolic) is considered normal, while a systolic value equal to or greater than 140 and a minimum diastolic value of 90 indicate the need to intervene by changing the diet, implementing physical exercise and taking medicines..
- Hyperglycemia can damage arteries and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease even when its value is lower than what diabetes indicates. Again, it is necessary to bring the blood sugar concentration back to normal levels with diet, training and medications (if prescribed).
Step 2. Stop smoking
Chemical compounds found in tobacco promote atherosclerosis (the narrowing of the lumen of the arteries), while the carbon monoxide in the smoke partially takes the place of oxygen in the bloodstream. These changes increase the stress to which the heart is subjected, making it less efficient and increasing the risk of occlusion of the arteries.
- There is no dosage of tobacco products or smoking that is considered "safe" and it can be very difficult to quit this habit. Fortunately, even heavy smokers can get almost immediate benefits when they stop smoking; five years after the last cigarette, the risks of heart and blood vessel diseases are similar to those of a non-smoker.
- Read this article for some good tips on quitting smoking.
Step 3. Lose weight
Being overweight is basically the antechamber of several risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes. The extra pounds make the heart work too hard even to perform normal functions and it is certainly not the kind of "exercise" that allows it to get stronger. The concentrated adipose tissue in the abdominal area seems to be particularly related to an increased likelihood of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
- Although body mass index (BMI) is by no means a perfect criterion for assessing an individual's body weight or for establishing the need to lose weight, it does provide a good general idea. Values above 25 are generally associated with an increased risk of vascular and heart disease. Discuss the ideal BMI for you with your doctor and set a weight loss goal together (if necessary).
- In this article you will find many tips to help you lose weight in a healthy way.
Step 4. Reduce your stress levels
Living under constant pressure negatively affects sleep and increases blood pressure, both of which can damage heart and arterial health. The first step to lowering stress is to identify its triggers, and then you can use the "four A" technique - bypassing, altering, adapting and accepting - to manage it and bring it to acceptable levels.
- Circumvent: Reduce exposure to sources of stress. You can do this in many different ways, such as waking up early in the morning to avoid rush hour traffic, disclaiming additional responsibilities or workloads, or hanging out with different people.
- Altering: Try to lower the intensity of the factors responsible for emotional pressure by changing them. You can achieve this by changing your own behaviors or by talking to other people in a way that they alter their own. For example, you can ask your partner to cook once a week if the task of preparing meals is causing you stress. You can also change the exposure time; For example, if you dislike a neighbor, tell him that you will only be at his backyard barbecue for an hour.
- Adapt: Change expectations and standards to match reality. Identify negative thoughts as they arise and try to replace them with positive ones or images that improve motivation and mood. Make an effort to see events and activities in perspective so that you understand what is important in the long run and what is not. For example, if you are late for work, remind yourself that this is only a one-day mishap and that you are only five minutes late, instead of feeling guilty all day.
- Accept: In some cases, you can only accept the presence of the cause of the emotional tension and you can not do anything to change it in a noticeable way. In these situations, open up to others by expressing your feelings and focus on the positive aspects of your life instead of the negative ones. Consider these sources of stress as opportunities that allow you to learn how to manage it better.
- If you feel the need for help to control emotional anxiety, see your family doctor or mental health specialist. in this way, the body and the mind benefit, especially the heart.
- In this article you can find many valuable tips.
