A healthy heart is vital for overall well-being, and exercise is one of the most powerful tools you can use to strengthen your heart and prevent (or reverse) cardiovascular disease. Engaging in heart-strengthening exercise can help to manage key risk factors for the development of heart conditions, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. There are many exercise options that can help you take control of your heart health. Here, we'll take a look at how aerobic and resistance training work together to strengthen cardiovascular health, exercises you can include in your routine to improve cardiovascular health, and more tips you can use to help keep your heart strong and healthy.
How aerobic and resistance training work to strengthen cardiovascular health
Your heart is a muscle, and just like any other muscle in your body, it gets stronger with exercise. A combination of aerobic (cardio) exercise and strength (resistance) training are vital for improving heart health. A combination of the two types of exercise can help to strengthen the heart so that it pumps blood more efficiently, lowering your resting heart rate and increasing your cardiovascular fitness.
Most healthy people have a resting heart rate between 55 and 85 beats per minute. Athletes may have a lower resting heart rate, while people with cardiovascular health issues may have a higher resting heart rate. Using a wearable fitness tracking device can help you keep an eye on your heart rate when you exercise. When you exercise, you'll want to aim for 50-85% of your maximum heart rate—check out this simple chart to get an idea of the heart rate you should aim for to get maximum heart-strengthening benefits when you work out.
Top 5 exercises to strengthen your heart
Brisk walking
Walking is a free, accessible, and simple way to help you improve heart health. There are many benefits of walking regularly, including improvements in artery health, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, a lower risk of premature death, and the prevention of weight gain (achieving and maintaining a healthy weight can help protect your heart from stress). Many people also find that taking walks regularly helps reduce stress levels, which can also positively affect cardiovascular health.
Strength training
Research shows people who participate in resistance training—such as lifting weights or doing body weight strength exercises—experience a 17% decrease in their risk of heart disease compared to adults who do not participate in strength training. Strength training can improve cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and help to control blood sugar. Simple body weight exercises—like squats, lunges, calf raises, and push-ups—can be an important part of a heart-strengthening exercise plan.
Pickleball and tennis
Whether you prefer pickleball or tennis, both get you moving on the court—and both are great for your heart health. In addition to providing you with short bursts of cardio activity that can help support your heart health, pickleball and tennis also offer a social aspect, which can help to lower stress levels. Meeting up with a group of friends regularly to play pickleball or tennis can also help you stick to an exercise routine since you know others are depending on you to show up.
Cycling
Whether you're into mountain biking or are more about a leisurely beachside ride, cycling is a great way to boost your heart health. Recent studies showed that people who cycled regularly experienced about 15% fewer heart attacks than those who did not cycle. Using a wearable fitness tracker and keeping an eye on your heart rate can help to ensure that you're getting the most out of every ride. If you're able, riding a bike to work can help make it easier to get into the habit of getting out for a ride each day.
Swimming
Hitting the pool for a swimming workout doesn't just support heart health—it's also great for your respiratory system. When you're swimming, both your heart and your lungs are hard at work as you utilize various muscle groups while controlling your breathing. Unlike running and other vigorous exercises, swimming is easy on the joints, making it a good fit for those who don't want to exacerbate past injuries.
Take it slow: How to start exercising
There's no need to jump into super-intense exercise from day one of your heart health journey. Taking it slow can help you build sustainable habits that keep your heart safe as you work to improve your cardiovascular health.
Ideally, you'll work up to about two and a half hours of moderate exercise per week. Taking small steps—like a 10-minute walk around the block after dinner each night—can be a great place to start working toward this goal. Gradually increase the amount of time you spend exercising each week until you hit your goal.
It's also important to discover exercise that you enjoy. This can take some time, and it can be fun to explore different options until you find something that's the right fit for you. Exercise classes at your local community center, online cardio and strength training workouts, or joining a local walking or jogging club can all provide you with some insight into the type of workouts that will be a good fit for you long-term.
More heart strengthening tips
Exercise is just one of the tools in your heart-strengthening toolbox, and adding more heart-healthy strategies can help you feel your best as you're working to strengthen your heart.
Try these tips to help prevent or reverse heart disease:
- Manage stress. It's true—stress takes a toll on your heart, and taking measures to reduce stress can help to improve your cardiovascular health. Mindfulness activities, meditation, spending time in nature, and participating in yoga can all help you manage stress.
- Lower or eliminate your alcohol intake. Heavy drinking is defined as more than one serving ofalcohol each day for women, or two servings each day for men. A serving is 12 oz. of beer, 4 oz. of wine, or 1.5 oz. of liquor. Drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol per day can lead to cardiovascular problems including high blood pressure, stroke, and/or heart failure. If you want to lower your alcohol intake or quit drinking and are having trouble doing so, it's a good idea to talk with your primary care provider about resources that can help.
- Achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Excess weight requires your heart to do more work when moving through daily activities. If you're overweight or have obesity, talk with your doctor about creating a sustainable, healthy weight loss plan that can support heart health.
- Eat a heart-healthy diet. Include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat protein, and try to lower the amount of processed meats, saturated fat, and trans fat in your diet.
Evidation: Your partner in creating a healthy heart
At Evidation, we're here to help you achieve your health goals, including strengthening your heart. Here's how it works. When you download our free app, you'll have the option to share health data you're already tracking (like your workouts, nutrition tracking, sleep tracking, etc.) with us. You're in control of your data, and you can choose to stop sharing it at any time. We'll use the information you provide to develop personalized, content-based, research-backed health insights that can help you make choices that support your health goals. No matter where you're at in your health journey, we're here to help you keep moving forward.
