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Exercise has many positive effects on heart health. A regular exercise routine can help:
“One of the key benefits of exercise is that it helps to control or modify many of the risk factors for heart disease,” says Dr. Kerry Stewart, director of Clinical and Research Exercise Physiology at Johns Hopkins Bayview. “Smoking is another big factor for heart disease, and if you exercise regularly you’re unlikely to take on a bad habit like smoking, or quit if you already are a smoker.” Additional benefits of exercise:
A number of studies have also shown that people who exercise regularly are less likely to suffer a sudden heart attack or other life-threatening cardiac event. While exercise has benefits in and of itself, the best way to prevent heart disease is to combine exercise with a healthy diet. Exercise alone can help with weight loss over a long period of time. But a short-term approach is to reduce the number of calories you take in through diet, while increasing the calories you use through exercise. Ideal exercise for the heartThe best exercise has a positive effect on the heart and improves the skeletmuscular system. The American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine both recommend combining aerobic exercise (jogging, swimming, biking) with resistance training (moderate weightlifting). Together, these two categories of exercise produce the greatest benefit for preventing and managing heart disease. Exercise and pregnancyIf you’re having a healthy pregnancy, and you exercised regularly before you were pregnant, it’s beneficial to keep up a moderate routine. This regimen can include walking, swimming or bike riding. You’ll continue to receive the same cardiovascular benefits. If you’re pregnant and everyday exercise has not been part of your life, you should probably stick with a milder exercise. In both instances, it makes sense to seek advice from your physician. Sources for exercise intelligenceThe National Institute of Health, the American Heart Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine are all good sources for assistance in choosing the right exercise routine. Johns Hopkins has a clinical exercise center which offers medically supervised programs and exercise guidelines based on scientific evidence. We evaluate fitness levels and consider medical history before starting people on exercise regimens. There are similar medical fitness centers throughout the country. How much exercise and how often?General guidelines call for a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training. Try to get in a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise such as walking, cycling or swimming at least five days a week. Do moderate weightlifting to tone muscles and build muscle endurance twice a week, or frequently enough to cover the major muscle groups. How do you know when you’re making progress?There are many ways to chart your exercise progress. Three of the most common are target heart rate for aerobic exercise, number of repetitions for weight training, and fat vs. muscle body composition.
Knowing when you’re overdoing it.Setting a target heart rate with a qualified trainer or health professional is the simplest way to keep your workout within a healthy range.
An important sign of overwork is fatigue and soreness that stays with you longer than a day or two after you exercise. Any persistent pain could mean you’ve overused or have injured a muscle. How to stick with an exercise routineThe key to a successful exercise routine is staying interested and motivated. Here are a few ways to keep exercise a lifelong habit:
Using exercise to tune up your cardiovascular health“If we compare a person’s initial fitness response to testing, to responses three to six months later, we see progress,” says Dr. Stewart. “The oxygen consumption will be higher. The time on the treadmill will be longer. The heart rate and blood pressure will be lower. It’s like tuning up your engine. Only the engine is your heart and the body’s circulatory system for distributing blood, and it’s working more efficiently.” Bring Science Home Bring Science Home: Activity 17 Key concepts Cardiovascular system Exercise Energy and metabolism From National Science Education Standards: Personal health Introduction From your brain down to your fingers and toes, your body needs plenty of oxygen to keep going. That oxygen is carried through your body in the bloodstream. Blood is pumped through the heart and picks up oxygen as it passes by the lungs. Let's track your heart kicking it into high gear during exercise. But don't get moving just yet; first we need to count your resting heart rate. Background So, getting out of breath while exercising is just a sign that your muscles are working. The more you exercise, the more efficient your body will be at getting oxygen to your muscles, so you can exercise more without getting out of breath. Of course, pushing exercise too hard can be dangerous and, if you feel faint, you should stop the activity. Materials • Stopwatch or timer with a second hand • A person who has been relaxing for at least 15 minutes • Room to do jumping jacks • Pencil and paper Preparation • Start this activity well rested (sitting down to read for 15 minutes or so should do the trick). • Have a stopwatch handy. • Note: Be sure to drink plenty of water when you exercise. All of that work makes your body lose water through sweat—as well as moisture that is exhaled when you're breathing quickly. Procedure • Notice your breathing. How many breaths are you taking every minute? • Now, get ready to get moving! Make sure you have room enough for jumping jacks, and keep that stopwatch handy. • Do 20 jumping jacks (or as many as it takes to get out of breath). • Without resting, count the number of heartbeats you feel in 30 seconds. Write that number down and multiply it by two.• How much did your heart rate increase after the jumping jacks? • How many breaths did you take in a minute after the jumping jacks? • How did your breathing change? • Try other activities and see how they affect your heart rate and breathing. What does that mean about how much oxygen each one requires—and how much your muscles are moving? • After you exercise, try seeing how long it takes for your heart rate to return to its resting rate. Read on for observations, results and more resources. Observations and results As you exercise more, your body gets more efficient and does not require as much heavy breathing or quick heart pumping. People who exercise regularly can do so longer without getting out of breath as quickly. They also tend to have heart rates that return to their resting levels more quickly after physical activity. But of course, oxygen is not the only substance the body needs. We also need food for fuel. When we eat food, some of it is broken down by the body and transformed into the energy that gets us moving (these energy units are known as "calories"). More food does not always mean more energy. It depends on the type of food you are eating and how your body breaks the food down. For instance, the body can break down sugar and other processed carbohydrates, such as white bread, quickly. But sustained energy is better gained from foods that are harder to break down, such as lean protein and whole grains. While breathing at different rates helps control the amount of air the body uses, the amount of energy from food the body uses is controlled much differently. If the body gets way more energy (or calories) than it can burn off, it will often store it away as fat. What are some ways you and your friends and family can get more physical activity every day? Share your jumping heart rate observations and results! Leave a comment below or share your photos and feedback on Scientific American's Facebook page. More to explore Up next… What you'll need • Mixing bowl • Dirt • Plastic wrap • Clear drinking glass (slightly shorter than the rim of the mixing bowl) • Small round marble • Sunny ledge or warm surface • Warm water Rights & Permissions Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. Subscribe Now! |