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Do you exercise to look better? To feel better? To control body weight? To get some me time? Probably. And that’s great! Now, how often do you exercise to prevent heart disease? During American Heart Month in February, make a few changes in your workouts to create a stronger, healthier, heart for life.
Heart disease is often still thought of as a men’s health issue. Although men do tend to develop symptoms earlier than women, did you know the condition is actually more likely to be fatal or disabling in women! Cardiovascular diseases claim the lives of 500,000 women each year. That’s one life each minute lost to heart disease.
Top risk factors for heart disease:
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholesterol
- Excess Weight
- A Sedentary Lifestyle
- Stress
So what can you do? Luckily, women can do a lot to protect themselves from heart disease. As you look at the risk factors above, something can be done to reduce most of them – that something is exercise! The latest joint American Heart Association and American College of Sports Medicine guidelines recommend that healthy adults (ages 18-65) get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity five days a week (www.americanheart.org).
Cardiovascular (cardio) exercise is the best way to improve heart and lung strength. Cardio exercise can take many forms. The key is finding the one that you enjoy and will continue doing in your me time. Any steady exercise that uses the large muscle groups will work. This month, make it a point to try three different cardio workouts from the ideas that follow and see how healthy your heart feels.
Steady Cardiovascular Exercise: This is the most common type of exercise and can take the form of walking, jogging, biking, swimming, x-country skiing, hiking, rowing, aerobics classes, and more. The cardiovascular system gets more efficient when a certain type of exercise is done over and over again. In order to continue improving, try changing up your workouts. The more variety you get, the more benefit you’ll get. Walk a little faster, alternate swimming and jogging, train for a triathlon, or bike outside instead of indoors.
Interval Training: Adding interval training to your workouts is the best way to improve your cardiovascular ability. Intervals can be timed out or can be “play intervals”. Either type will allow you to push your body out of its comfort zone for a few minutes at a time. For a play interval when jogging down the street, speed up until you reach the next stop sign then slow down until you’re recovered. Repeat this a few times in your workout. For a timed interval on a treadmill or bike, speed up for 1-2 minutes and then recover for 2-3 minutes. Repeat 5 times during a 30-minute jog.
Circuit Strength Training: If cardio workouts aren’t your favorite idea of me time, try circuit training to get similar heart healthy benefits. When you’re strength training choose 8-12 exercises and move quickly from one exercise to the next until you’ve completed one set of everything. Rest for a minute, grab a drink of water, and begin round two. Circuit training allows you to improve both strength and cardiovascular ability in the same workout and leaves you more time for the rest of your busy day!
Stress Reducing Exercises: Stress is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. When trying to balance work, family, friends, and me time most women find themselves under more than a healthy level of stress. Any type of physical activity can help to reduce stress levels, however, if you want to make this a priority try yoga, meditation, or walking outside each day and you’ll feel your shoulders relax before you know it.
Remember that most risk factors of heart disease are preventable. So grab your sneakers, get your heart pumping, and add years to your life!
For more information:
About Laurie Parlin, M.Ed., CSCS, CHES
Laurie is an exercise physiologist and health educator with a passion for being physically active and encouraging others to do the same. She is nationally certified as a Health Education Specialist, Personal Fitness Trainer, Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and Yoga instructor. She holds a Masters Degree in Health Education and a Bachelors Degree in Exercise Science. As an expert in health education and fitness, Laurie has spent time managing both corporate and college wellness programs, teaching middle school health education, coaching youth sport, and training individuals to reach their health and fitness goals. Laurie was a competitive gymnast for 15 years who currently spends her free time skiing, traveling, running half marathons, and learning to surf. Laurie believes that investing in your health is one of the best investments you can make. Whether you put in time, energy, or money, you are guaranteed to get positive results. www.healthyinvestments-inc.com, www.momsinmotions.com
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20. February 2009 at 7:42 pm :
I’m up for a challenge. I just blogged about this a few days ago. I have joined other groups over the last few months, but nothing has grabbed me like your site. I am a Taekwondo Instructor and are watching people drop all their fitness activities because of the economy etc. It breaks my heart. I have several goals this year, since I am in my last year of my 30’s I really want to lean down. At my mammogram they told me that it would not hurt me at all to lose 25 or 30 pounds of body mass. I am very fit now, but carry a lot of muscle as well as some fat from the holidays and laziness in the last 6 months. Anyway…I am going to start a free fitness class at my church for people who need to be inspired and held accountable but can no longer afford a trainer or gym. I’m up for your challenge because it will give me accountability and excitement to push through!