How to protect your heart health with weightlifting and running

Do you know why exercising is good for your overall health? Well, let us count the ways. First and foremost, any form of exercise burns calories, which in return helps you to reach and maintain a healthy weight. Moreover, exercising regularly improves cardiovascular health, resulting in good blood pressure, better blood sugar regulation and healthy cholesterol levels.

What is more, exercise is also known to influence some physiological changes. One of them is that you will improve your arteries’ dilation. Your nervous system will also benefit from it by becoming less reactive.

So what can you do to protect your heart? Many studies show that pairing regular exercise with a healthy and balanced diet is the optimal way to protect the heart and reverse some diseases.

However, is it necessary to spend hours in the gym lifting heavy weights or running 5k every day? Maybe a 45-minute walk will do the trick, and you will get the same benefits.

That’s why in this article, we will cover what type of exercises you can do to protect your heart. So after reading, you can choose your favourite, pick up some new gear from Footlocker with a discount code and head out.

Starting out

If you are a person who is mostly sedentary and physical activity is not your cup of tea, then it might be a good idea to check with your doctor first. They’ll assess you and let you know what you can do safely. It’s also good to tell them about your plans so they can guide you in the right direction. Some activities, such as weight lifting, focus on creating micro strains in your muscles so they can grow. That’s why it’s important to get a green light from your doctor first.

In terms of the length of each session, it all depends. If you are an active person, then going for a light 20 minutes jog or spending an hour in the gym shouldn’t be a problem. However, if exercising is something new to you, it’s best to start very light and build it up gradually. For example, you can start with just walking for 30 minutes a day for two weeks and then bump it up to 45 minutes.

What are the benefits of exercising?

It’s common knowledge that lack of physical activity raises the risk for many diseases, and especially your heart is at big risk.

Not only will exercising make you feel and look better, but it will also give you many benefits, such as:

● Better blood pressure

● Raise in HDL (good) cholesterol

● Reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol

● Heart attack patients who exercise tend to live longer

● Reduces risk of coronary artery disease

● The heart can pump blood more efficient.

Exercises which can help protect your heart

So now you know of the benefits that you can get from exercising regularly. However, there are thousands of exercises that you can choose from. So how do you know which one is right for you? Don’t worry; we are going to help!

Weightlifting

Weight lifting or resistance training focuses on straining your muscles which then, as a result, grow larger and become stronger. Everyone should do some form of resistance training, especially if they are older. As we age, our muscles lose strength, so lifting some heavy weights is even more important.

Doing so makes your arms and legs stronger, which can ease the overall burden on the heart. You can join a gym and work out there, or if you prefer to work at home or outdoors, then bodyweight exercises are also a great option to build muscle mass and strength. You can do push-ups, pull-ups and squats, which are one of the most effective exercises you can do.

Running

As you probably already know, cardio is one of the most popular forms of exercise that can improve your overall heart health. Even the name comes from the cardiovascular system. Running uses one of our largest muscles and raises your heart rate. Numerous studies show that jogging can add years to our lives. When you start running over some period of time, your heart and lungs will start to adapt to this new form of activity. Your heart becomes stronger, allowing it to pump a bigger volume of blood, and your lungs become more capable of taking in more air per breath.

Moreover, when your cardiovascular efficiency improves, you’re able to run faster or longer with less effort. It’s important to note that you shouldn’t go out now and start running 5k every day. It will result in either quick burnout or injuries. It’s best to start slowly and build it up gradually or use some popular running programs, such as Couch to 5k.

As you can see, regular exercise is not only going to protect you from various heart diseases but is also going to give you many benefits. Our recommendation is to combine those two. For example, you could lift weights three times a week and run twice.