Top 3 Exercises for Better Heart Health

February 14, 2023

By: Chandani Patel, Marketing Intern, UGA College of Public Health

Categories: Healthy Living, Heart Health

Include these three types of exercises in your workout routine to strengthen your heart!

Physical activity is a good way to build better heart health. It helps strengthen muscle, manage weight and prevent the artery damage that causes heart attacks and strokes. It does all this by helping you control cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. The three types of exercise that are beneficial to promoting heart health are aerobic exercise, resistance training, and stretching/flexibility/balance. Here’s how these three types of exercises can help your heart health.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise can improve circulation which, in turn, helps lower blood pressure and heart rate. It can also help improve or maintain cardiac output, which is how well your heart pumps blood. Aerobic exercise has been shown to help individuals with type 2 diabetes because it can help control blood glucose levels.

For most effective results, try to integrate aerobic exercise into your life at least 30 minutes a day for five days a week. Exercise can include swimming, cycling, brisk walking, running, dancing, and more. Aerobic exercise does not have to be vigorous to provide benefits; moderate-intensity exercise also helps your heart.

Resistance Training

Resistance training can include working out with free weights or using resistance bands while doing squats, chin ups, and more. This type of exercise can help reduce fat and build leaner muscle mass. These changes are great for everyone, but especially for those who carry a lot of body fat, which can be a risk factor for heart disease.

With a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training, you can raise levels of HDL cholesterol (“good cholesterol”) and lower levels of LDL cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) in your blood. For most effective results, try to do at least two nonconsecutive days of resistance training a week, such as Mondays and Thursdays.

Stretching, Flexibility, and Balance

Although these types of workouts do not directly affect the heart, they do improve musculoskeletal health. This helps you remain flexible as you work out and may reduce joint pain or cramps. It will also help you maintain endurance and stability during aerobic and resistance training.

Most importantly, these exercises can reduce your risk of falls and other injuries. The less time you spend recovering from injuries, the more consistently you can do aerobic exercise and resistance training. For best results, add a few minutes of stretching, range of motion and balance training every day before and after exercising. This can include basic stretches, yoga, and more.

Remember that before starting any new exercise program, you should talk with your primary care physician. He or she can help you design an exercise program that will be safe and beneficial for you.