When you’re ready to boost your health, one of the most important things you can do to increase your overall fitness is exercise. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends at least 150 minutes (i.e., 2.5 hours) of physical activity per week.
In other words, if you want your heart to be strong, you’ve got to get it pumping. However, you may need to exercise caution before exercising if you:
When you have these risk factors for heart disease, you may need to start slow. But how slow is slow, and how quickly can you increase your activity?
At Laurelton Heart Specialists, our expert cardiologist, Dr. Ola Akinboboye, advises stress testing if you’re ready to start a new exercise regimen. He can perform stress tests and other evaluations at our office in Rosedale, Queens, New York, to ensure you receive the right care rather than harm your heart.
How can you safely spring forward into health? Here’s how to approach a new exercise regimen if you have risk factors for heart disease.
Your cardiovascular fitness level may be greater or lesser than you think it is. Don’t guess where you should start: Get the data you need to make informed decisions with your cardiologist. Depending on your individual circumstances, you may benefit from:
After Dr. Akinboboye evaluates the collected data, he recommends a starting fitness plan that will make your heart work and improve cardiovascular health while keeping you safe. Periodic re-testing lets you know when it’s time to make the routine more challenging.
You don’t have to rush out and buy a gym membership once you make the decision to improve your health through exercise. In fact, it may make more sense to work your way up to an in-gym workout and start at home with movements you already perform, or could do so easily. You can include all kinds of movements as part of your new routine, including:
The most important point at this stage is to cultivate the new habit of moving your body every day.
Once you’ve developed your daily movement habit, it’s time to up the intensity and switch up the diversity of your routine. Again, you may need to work up to the AHA recommendations gradually:
Aerobic activity is anything that gets your heart pumping consistently. If you’re already strolling every day, increase your intensity to a brisk walk several times a week.
Once you’re comfortable with brisk walking, you might add in a gentle jog. Over time, you might enjoy running or sprinting. Play tennis or pickleball. Increase your cycling or swimming speed. Try a Zumba® or other type of dance class. You might even jump rope!
Your heart is the main muscle you need to strengthen to stay healthy, but the more you build and strengthen your other muscles, the more likely you are to maintain your health long-term. That’s why the AHA recommends moderate- to high-intensity muscle-strengthening activities, such as:
Be sure you eat plenty of good-quality protein. Protein helps you build and maintain muscle tissue to increase your strength, metabolism, and overall health.
Right now. You can stand up and read the rest of this blog. In fact, take a deep stretch, too. Then, as soon as you’re done, stroll around the room.
It may not seem like much, but brief exercise “snacks” help keep your blood circulating and your heart happy. Stand up, stretch, and stroll every 30-60 minutes. Even if you’re a gym rat, if you must spend time sitting for your job or other reasons, those brief bursts of movement reduce your risk for disease.
If you need data before you can safely start your new exercise routine, call our team at 718-208-4816 or use our online outreach form to schedule a stress test appointment today.
