Exercise For Management Of Heart Conditions: How Does It Help?
Feeling overwhelmed by your heart condition? You’re not alone, and the good news is that there are simple exercise activities you can do to improve your heart health. Exercise can make a huge difference in managing your heart health and helping you feel better. In this blog, we’ll explain how exercise can help manage your heart condition and improve your overall health.
What is a Heart Condition, and How Does It Affect You?
Heart conditions can affect anyone, and they can range from things like high blood pressure (hypertension) to more serious problems like heart failure or coronary artery disease. Heart disease is a big problem worldwide, and many people struggle with it. If you have a heart condition, you might feel tired, short of breath, or even in pain at times.
But there’s good news: you can do something about it. Regular exercise can help improve your symptoms and manage your disease progression. If you’re feeling like your heart condition is holding you back, keep reading to learn how you can start feeling better and live longer.
How Exercise Helps Heart Health
We help people manage a range of conditions, including:
- Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
- Heart failure
- High blood pressure (Hypertension)
- Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
- Congenital Heart Defects
Here are just a few of the ways that exercise can help:
- Improve blood pressure: exercise helps your heart pump blood more easily, which lowers the strain on your heart.
- Helps You Manage Weight: being overweight or obese increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. If you’re carrying extra weight, exercising is one of the best ways to lose it.
- Increases your muscle mass, reducing your risk of metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
- Reduces Stress: Life can be stressful, and stress can make heart problems worse. Exercise is a great way to lower stress and help you feel better emotionally and physically.
- Improve your fitness: better fitness is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Simple Lifestyle Changes to Support Your Heart Health
Aside from exercise, there are other small steps you can take to protect your heart:
- Get a good night sleep: poor sleep will negatively affect your recovery and energy levels. Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep every night to give your heart and body the rest it needs.
- Reduce stress: practice simple relaxation techniques like deep breathing or meditation. Even taking time to sit quietly for 5-10 minutes a day can help lower your stress levels.
How Longevity Can Help You
At Longevity, we want to make sure that you have the tools and support you need to improve your health. Our goal is to work with you to create a plan that fits into your lifestyle. Here’s how we can help you:
- Individualised exercise programs tailored to your needs, conditions and goals.
- Lifetime booking system so you get to pick the exercise time that suits you best every week.
- Get unequivocal support with direct access to your exercise physiologist.
Managing a heart condition can be stressful. Get the expert guidance you need to get exercise safely and take back control of your day.
Ready to take the first step toward increasing your fitness and lifespan? Call Longevity Exercise Physiology Ascot Vale, Burwood, Casey, Castle Hill, Coburg, Drummoyne, Edgecliff, Five Dock, Gladesville, Gungahlin, Kingsgrove, Liverpool, Macarthur Campbelltown, Macarthur Tindall, Marrickville, Neutral Bay, Penrith, Pymble, Pyrmont, Randwick, Rhodes, Rosebery, Springfield, Yamanto today on 1300 964 002 to book your personalised session or a 15-minute free phone consultation.
Written by Omar Barbar
References
- Mancini, D. M., et al. (2013). Exercise training in heart failure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 62(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2013.03.063.
- Mayer, S. A., et al. (2015). Exercise training in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: A meta-analysis. JAMA, 314(15), 1573-1582. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.10976.
- Henderson, L. R., et al. (2004). Effects of exercise training on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with coronary artery disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 43(2), 257-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2004.03.048.
- Kravitz, R. L., et al. (2016). Impact of exercise training on cardiovascular outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease: A meta-analysis. The Lancet, 387(10023), 545-552. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60320-5.
- Paffenbarger, R. S., et al. (2003). Physical activity and coronary heart disease. Circulation, 107(1), 17-22. https://doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.0000070183.39638.79.