The BEST exercise for heart health, according to top US cardiac surgeon
All that matters is keeping your heart happy. Yes, emotionally and physically! Heart health plays a crucial role in our overall health and wellness. But how does one keep the heart healthy? Certain lifestyle changes can help to maintain the heart in good shape, and one of them is exercise.
What's the best exercise for heart health, though?
Dr. Jeremy London, a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon, with over 25 years of clinical experience, based in the US, has now shared his views on 'THE BEST' exercise for heart health! Before we delve into that, let's take a look at why exercise is crucial for heart health.
The role of exercise in heart health
Regular exercise is linked to many health benefits, and these apply to people across ages, races and ethnicities, and sexes.
Regular moderate and vigorous-intensity physical activity can strengthen the heart muscle, which will improve the heart's ability to pump blood throughout your body. It can lower the risk of heart diseases, plaque buildup up which is linked with chronic diseases and conditions, including heart attack, and stroke.
The benefits of heart health include:
Lowers blood pressure
Improves blood circulation
Lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) and raises good cholesterol (HDL)
Helps to control weight
Maintain blood sugar level
Improves heart rate
Reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke
Reduce inflammation throughout the body
The best exercise for heart health
According to Dr. Jeremy London, aerobic exercise is proven to be good for improving cardiovascular efficiency. 'Let's start with the data-driven response that doing aerobic training increases your cardiovascular efficiency and translates directly to a decrease in your cardiovascular events. And this is measured with something called a VO2 max,' he said, in a
video
shared on Instagram.
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VO2 max is a key indicator of how efficiently the body uses oxygen during exercise. Higher VO2 max levels are linked to better heart health and a lower risk of heart disease.
5 Exercises that will keep you young
Exercises such as running, cycling, or swimming can elevate VO2 max, strengthen the heart, and improve overall endurance. Studies suggest that regular aerobic activity helps the heart work better for people with coronary heart disease. It can also help to reduce the risk of a second heart attack in people who have already had heart attacks.
According to the
American Heart Association
, 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week, is recommended for overall health.
Where to begin
Keeping the heart in its best shape goes beyond exercise, according to Dr. London. He has suggested that people start by identifying and targeting their weakest health habits. 'It's my opinion that the best exercise or the best lifestyle change you can make for you is by first identifying what you're not good at.
For example, I'm very conscious and make a lot of effort with what I eat, my exercise programs, really the things that I can directly control on a day-to-day basis.
Where do I really struggle? It's with my sleep. I really can have the biggest impact by focusing on my sleep, not to say that I can't do a better job with my aerobic training, or with my resistance training, or with my diet. We all can do better in various places, but where can I really make meaningful shifts? Well, it's where I'm the weakest, not where I'm necessarily the strongest.
And that is where the opportunity exists,' he said.
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