Improved Heart Health In As Little As 30 Minutes a Day

We all know physical activity associates with good heart health, but did you know you can improve your heart health by engaging in exercise in as little as 30 minutes a day? Whether you are an avid runner, go to the gym regularly, or just try to get a certain number of steps logged in a day, focused activity can help improve your heart health. Even a brisk, 30-minute walk each day can reduce your chances of heart disease as compared to people who are inactive.

For men 50 and over, it’s easy to fall into the overworked, bad diet, and sedentary lifestyle given the demands on our time and efforts. But as difficult as it is to make time to exercise, remember inactivity puts you at almost twice the risk to develop heart disease than those who are active, which is why incorporating a fitness plan to your schedule is so important for your heart health.

What is Heart Disease?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 610,000 people die each year from heart disease, historically more than half are men. (Heart.org has the figure over 800,000). Regardless, heart disease, particularly Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), remains the number one killer of Americans according to all sources.

CHD occurs when the arteries that provide blood to the heart become hardened or narrowed with a buildup of plaque on the arteries’ inner walls. It’s a given that by now, men 50 and over have had the talk from their doctor about cholesterol–a contributing substance of plaque accumulation in your arteries-building up to excessive amounts. This condition can lead to a heart attack and permanently damage your arteries unless you include healthy habits into your daily life.

You can’t control your genetic makeup or stop the aging process, both may increase the chances of heart disease, but you can control your activity level. Taking control of your fitness and incorporating a healthy amount of activity into your life can truly influence your chances of developing heart disease.

Benefits of Physical Activity

Safe to assume we all have heard by the benefits of physical activity being a part of your everyday routine: lowering bad cholesterol, increasing good cholesterol, reducing high blood pressure, reducing the impact of diabetes on the body, and maintaining a healthy weight. These are factors that can raise your chances of developing heart disease among other health-related issues.¹

Even if you can’t make the gym, there are many ways to incorporate physical activity into your daily life, even from your home (Check out our blogs on Home Workout Series). See the table below for some examples of both moderate and vigorous heart-healthy activities you may want to try or continue if you are already regularly physically active.

As you can see, you can improve your heart health through many types of physical activities. Finding one you find enjoyable will help you stick to a plan and reduce your chances of experiencing heart-related problems.

Types of Physical Activity

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, there are four types of physical activity. These include aerobic activities, muscle and bone strengthening (resistance training for our purposes), and flexibility exercises. Aerobics help the most with heart health, however, all types interconnect and provide the most benefit to your health when part of your routine.

• Aerobic Activity
  • Aerobic activity (also referred to as endurance activity) uses more oxygen than it would when you aren’t exercising and increases your heartbeat. Remember that your heart is a muscle and requires exercise just as much as say, your legs. Aerobics uses the large muscle groups in your body to support heart health and includes things like walking, jogging, and bicycling.
• Strength and Bone Training –
  • Strength training focuses on the body’s muscles by purposeful contractions to increase the power, size and endurance of the muscle group. Most common forms of strength training are weightlifting, but resistance in exercises like push-ups and exercise bands are more than enough to stimulate muscle use.

• • Bone strengthening are those that support your body’s weight against your skeletal structure and muscles. Again, weightlifting, running, walking and strenuous exercising will assist in this effort.
• Flexibility Exercises
  • Flexibility exercises help to stretch and lengthen your muscles which lead to greater joint flexibility, reducing your chances of experiencing injuries. Pre and post workout stretching is important to men 50 and over, especially if you have a sedentary lifestyle or profession.  You can start your regimen with stretching, interject stretches in between sets, and even focus solely on stretching by taking yoga classes. If for nothing other than keeping range of motion, concentrate on your upper, lower and core body groups as often as possible.

Interconnection of the Types of Physical Activity

Although the nature of aerobics provides the most direct benefit to the heart, all three types of physical activity contribute to the greatest benefits for your health. For instance, resistance training helps your muscles and improves your balance while flexibility exercises help to prevent injury. Resistance training and flexibility exercises help you complete your aerobic activities successfully.

Components of a Heart Healthy Physical Activity Routine

When putting together an exercise plan that focuses on promoting heart health, consider where your current physical abilities are at and then slowly increase your strength and abilities over time. Working toward small, incremental goals is more beneficial to your heart health than trying to overwork yourself to achieve a large goal all at once.

For instance, if you’re not active, get used to walking five minutes at a time, then increase to ten minutes, and then increase your walks to 15 or 20 minutes. You can also slowly increase the speed at which you walk. Slowly working toward a larger activity goal will give you greater benefits while helping your body to build up strength and tolerance for the work you are putting in.

Even if you are consistently physically active, your exercise routine should include a warmup of about 5 minutes to help your body get ready for the activity you are about to complete. After your warmup, you can transition into your main workout.

You should allow for a cool-down period, coming after your main physical activity. In a cool down, you should be slowing your movements and reducing your pace to help your body relax and transition back to a resting state. Last, complete some stretching as this helps improve joint flexibility and recovery from the exercise you just completed.

Things to Consider

It is important not to push yourself too hard and to receive guidance from a medical professional if needed in terms of the level of physical activity you incorporate into your daily routine. Check with your doctor if you have a history of certain health problems, you have had heart issues or are at risk for having heart problems, or if you find it difficult to breathe after even light activities.

Men over 50 may want to check with their doctor that moderate to vigorous activity is safe for them to take part in regularly. If you have any history of major illness or a medical condition, especially related to your heart, be sure to check with your doctor on what he or she recommends for healthy physical activity for you.

Conclusion

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death among older individuals. Although you don’t have complete control over what happens inside your body, you can have a say in the chances you may or may not develop certain medical conditions. You can be more physically active which has countless benefits not only for your heart but for your overall health and quality of life.

Incorporating an exercise routine into each day or at least on most days can reduce your risk of heart disease and can improve your overall health. By doing light exercise for as little as 30 minutes a day (or at least on most days), you can improve your health and reduce your risk of heart disease.

Completing 30 to 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day with a routine that comprises a warm up, the physical activity, a cooldown, and some stretching, you can improve your health and your quality of life. Remember to check with your doctor for medical consultation about the best form of physical activity for you.

Being physically active reduces your chances of needing to go to the doctor, fewer incidents of being hospitalized, and less medicines needed. ¹

References:

¹Your Guide to Physical Activity and Your Heart. 2006. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute of Health. Retrieved April 7^th, 2019 from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/phy_active.pdf