5 Best Exercises For Healthy Heart
Taking care of your heart is vital as it is the very engine that keeps us alive. It pumps blood around your body with the correct nutrients and oxygen while removing waste products.
The heart is a muscle that gets stronger the more it is worked out like every muscles in your body.
Exercise such as Jump roping requires a lot of oxygen to feed your muscles, naturally making your heart pump faster to accommodate this demand.
Having frequent workouts where your heart is being stimulated, will prevent or hold back certain conditions such as high blood pressure, heart attack, and arrhythmia.
People have the misconception that you need to die with every workout, but that is not the case. Just doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise like a brisk walk for 4 days a week will stimulate your heart.
I have listed the best workout suited for both if you are a total beginner or at a more advanced level down below:
Here Are The List Of Healthy Heart Exercises
- Brisk walk
- Mountain climbing
- Jump rope
- Swimming
- Biking
Brisk Walk
Yes, just normal walks may not be enough to raise your heart rate significantly, but a brisk walk will get the job done for keeping you fit. Walking at a faster pace than normal and maintaining the speed for a certain amount of distance or time, would be your target.
Who is it for?
Brisk walks are great for beginners as walking is one of the movements we are most familiar with, all you would require is good walking shoes and you are ready to go.
It is also an exercise that puts less pressure on both your joints and muscles~ thus both minimizing the risk of injuries and total muscle fatigue.
How often?
As it’s a low impact on your body, you can do it every day. But just 4 days a week for 30 minutes can be enough to reap its benefits.
How to make the movement harder?
- Increase your speed
- Increase the distance
- You can carry a weighted backpack for extra resistance.
Mountain climbing
This is a bodyweight type of exercise where multiple muscles are targeted while performing this movement, making you feel as though you are climbing up an actual mountain.
To complete this exercise, firstly you need to get in a push-up position, making sure your arm and body are straight up as possible. Then one at a time, kick your knee up towards your chest while maintaining the same position.
Who is this for?
This movement would be for people at an intermediate fitness level, but you can bring down the difficulty of this exercise.
You can kick at a slower tempo, this will help you stabilize your body. Over time you can slowly progress by increasing your speed while maintaining a good form. Even at an intermediate level, it still has a low impact on your muscles.
How often?
To start with I would recommend doing 15 reps for 5 sets to see how you feel. Then you can start increasing your workload from there. It would be best if you can do this exercise every day, but 5 times a week is a good target.
How to increase the difficulty?
- In between sets, do your rest period while holding the push-up position
- Reduce rest period
- Increase speed
Jump rope
Jump rope can be a fun and challenging way to sneak in a heart-pumping workout. Being able to perform this easy exercise right from home makes it a time saver. It’s also an amazing piece of equipment to use at the gym to add variety to your sessions.
With there being plenty of tricks to learn, it will keep each workout fresh and exciting.
Who is it for?
Skipping rope is close to beginner friendly as it only takes a few sessions to find the rhythm of your jumps. You won’t need to become a professional at it, jumping continuously for several minutes to get a good workout in.
However, if you already have some joint aches in your lower half, such as your knees or ankles. This exercise might not be for you as it puts a good deal of pressure on those joints.
How often?
Jump roping 4 times a week will be enough. Now for how long per session, this will depend on your fitness/skill level.
If you are a total beginner, I would recommend having a goal for how many times you are going to jump rather than how long, to perfect your form.
But, If you are more advanced, then you should start timing yourself.
How to increase the difficulty?
- You can increase the speed of your swings
- Add more advanced technique
- Increase your time or jumps
Swimming
Swimming is a whole-body exercise, where everything from your head all the way down to your toes is working.
The extra oxygen will be essential for all of the movements making your heart work hard. With all of the different strokes, you get different stimulation for your muscles.
Who is it for?
Swimming is for more advanced people who know how to swim.
It is technical, so if you are a total beginner then this won’t be the exercise for you.
But after you know the basics, swimming is a great choice as it also has a low impact on your joints and gives your heart the tension that it needs to grow stronger.
How often?
As swimming is a whole-body workout, you should aim for 3 times a week for 30 minutes. But due to its low impact, you can swim more often if you desire.
How to increase the difficulty?
- You can increase the distance you swim without taking any rest in-between
- You can add sprints, swimming from one end to another as fast as you can.
- Perfect your form, you may have to decrease your speed.
Biking
Going for a ride outside not only gets your heart rate up but can refresh your state of mind too. You can bring along your friends or family to make it feel like a little trip rather than a workout.
The lower half muscles involved while pedaling are all big such as the glutes, hamstring, and quads. This ensures your heart stays busy pumping out blood.
For seniors an indoor bike might be more suitable to minimize any injuries and still provide with maximum benefits.
Who is it for?
First thing first you would need to be able to ride a bike comfortably, which is the main hurdle to overcome.
But even if you don’t know how, by following a simple guide, learning it should take 1-3 days. After learning biking is pretty much a beginner-friendly exercise that inflicts less pressure on your body.
How Often?
Riding a bike for 30 minutes 4 times a week should be the aim. You can always switch driving to places such as work with biking instead if your schedule is tight.
How to increase the difficulty?
- Choose harder terrain to ride such as hills
- Increase speed for longer periods
- Increase distance
Important Things To Consider
Exercises are there to benefit not just your body but your mind as well. So, if any of these workouts are making you feel awkward or causing pain, then switch it up with another exercise and give them a go.
Make sure you are always staying hydrated, drinking plenty of water during and after the workouts. Staying hydrated is vital to blood circulation and supporting your heart pump blood to your working muscle groups
Take the exercises slowly at the start. Going extreme from the beginning will do more harm than good ~ such as it can increase the chance of injury and overexert your body.
