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February 2016 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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Safe Exercises for Patients with Heart Disease
STRENGTHEN THE HEART TO IMPROVE BLOOD FLOW
By Harleena Singh, Staff Writer
The heart is a muscle. As such,
it needs exercise to stay in shape.
Regular exercise strengthens the
heart and keeps the blood vessels and
arteries flexible, which ensures good
blood flow and normal cholesterol
levels and blood pressure. Exercise
improves circulation and helps your
body use oxygen better. When the
heart exercises, it pumps more blood
through the body and works more
efficiently with little strain.
According to the American Heart
Association (www.heart.org), exercising 30 minutes a day five days a
week improves your heart health and
reduces the risk of heart disease. You
can even break it into quick 10-minute sessions three times a day. With
regular exercise, you may improve
your heart function, quicken recovery
and perhaps get off some of the medications you’re on.
There are many forms of exercise
you can incorporate into any workout. Here are a few:
• Stretching exercises – These
include stretching your arms and
legs before exercising, which helps
prepare the muscles for activity and
prevents injury and muscle strain.
Regular stretching exercises increase
your range of flexibility and motion.
• Strengthening exercises – These
are repeated muscle tightening (contractions) exercises, which you do
until the muscle become tired. They
are not recommended for some people with heart failure. Stick to light
weights and lift them more times. You
could try weight machines at a gym,
hand weights, resistance bands or
your own body weight.
• Heavy lifting – Make sure pushing and lifting heavy objects and
doing chores around the house such
as shoveling, raking, mowing and
scrubbing floors aren’t off limits.
Only do what you can do without
getting tired.
• Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise – These exercises strengthen
the heart and lungs and improve
the body’s ability to use oxygen. In
these exercises, you continuously
perform physical activity using large
muscle groups. Aerobic exercise
helps decrease your heart rate and
blood pressure and helps you breathe
efficiently. Aerobic exercise includes
anything that gets your heart rate up.
It could be walking, biking, jumping
rope, jogging, dancing, cross-country
skiing, water aerobics, ice or roller
skating, rowing and low-impact aerobics.
Here are some exercising tips for
people with heart disease and heart
failure:
• Gradually increase your activity
level, especially if you haven’t been
exercising regularly. Don’t do too
much too soon. Give your body time
to rest between workouts.
• Don’t exercise outdoors when
it’s too hot, cold or humid without
checking with your doctor. Extreme
temperatures can interfere with
your circulation, cause chest pain
and make breathing difficult. Better
options are indoor activities such as
walking in a mall or on a treadmill.
• Avoid doing too many isometric
exercises such as sit ups and push ups.
They involve straining the muscle
against other muscles or an immovable object.
• Stay hydrated – drink water even
if you aren’t thirsty, especially on hot
days. However, don’t drink too much
water.
• Avoid exercising in hilly areas.
If you must walk in steep areas, slow
down going uphill. Don’t forget to
monitor your heart rate.
• If your exercise schedule has been
interrupted for a few days due to illness, bad weather or vacation, ease
back into your routine. Start gradually
with low levels of activity and slowly
increase them until you are back to
where you left off.
• Stop exercising if you feel
fatigued or short of breath. Don’t
exercise if you have a fever or feel
unwell. You need to wait a few days
for the symptoms to disappear before
restarting an exercise.
• If you have chest pain or pain
elsewhere in your body, stop exercising and contact your doctor. If you
have heart palpitations or develop a
rapid or irregular heartbeat, call your
doctor.
• Before starting any exercise routine, check with your doctor, since
exercising with a heart condition can
put strain on your heart.
Exercising 30
minutes a day
five days a week
improves your heart
health and reduces
the risk of heart
disease.