Heart Health and Exercise: How to Safely Spring Into Action

As temperatures rise, the days get longer and beach vacations get booked, you may find yourself ready to spring into action. An active lifestyle that includes exercise can lower cholesterol, ward off weight gain and improve cardiovascular conditioning, which helps lower your risk of experiencing a heart attack or another cardiac event. But before you kick your exercise routine into high gear, it’s important to take some precautions.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

The American College of Cardiology recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly. However, if you’ve logged a lot of couch time lately, you should gradually work up to this level of activity.

Easing into exercise is important because it:

• Builds Mental Resilience:

Don’t let the weekly exercise recommendations intimidate you, especially if you are just getting started. Spread your exercise over seven days, eventually working up to the weekly recommendations. By giving yourself grace during this transitional period, you’ll become more mentally prepared for a long-term commitment.

• Reduces Your Risk of Injury

If you are not very active or haven’t exercised in months, “going big” at the gym could mean going home injured. Instead of putting the pedal to the metal, it’s best to begin with a shorter exercise routine and work your way up to more vigorous or longer sessions.

• Helps Prevent Burnout

If you’ve ever signed up for a 30-day exercise challenge and quit after the first week, you’re not alone. What sounds good on paper isn’t always good for your mental, physical or heart health. Experts agree you should start small and stick with your routine instead of beginning with a bang and risking burnout or injury.

Heart-Healthy Tips for Getting Started With Exercise

Before you start exercising, speak with your doctor. While exercise promotes heart health, you may need to alter your routine based on physical limitations or existing medical conditions. This is especially important if you’ve experienced a cardiac event, as you may need a stress test before you become active.

Kick off your heart-healthy routine with a few simple moves, adding a new step every few days.

1. Start with stretching and balance exercises.
2. Next, walk for 5-10 minutes.
3. After that, consider adding light weights or body weight exercises to your regimen. Start with 3-5 sets of 8-10 reps of exercises like bodyweight squats, lunges, pushups, curls, and overhead presses.
4. From there, begin moderate-intensity aerobic activity (your breathing should be slightly labored but you can still talk).

Regardless of your routine’s duration or intensity, always warm up and cool down. Gradually increasing and decreasing your heart rate alleviates strain otherwise put on your muscles.