Every year on 29th September it is World Heart Day, a day when we should all be thinking about the health of our own heart and adjustments we can make to our lifestyles that may have a positive impact on its health.
Eating well and not smoking is a great way to prevent heart disease, but there are other things that you can do to make sure that your heart is in tip top condition.
One of these things is exercise.
But why is exercise so good for your heart? Here are some of the reasons why you should make sure that you keep active as much as you can.
It gives your heart a workout
When you workout, often you will be looking to strengthen and tone certain muscles in your body. Exercise also helps to strengthen one important muscle, your heart. Exercise helps it to learn how to pump blood through your body effectively. In doing this, it can pump more blood with each beat, which means that it can beat slower and make sure that your bloody pressure is under control.
Your body absorbs oxygen better
Not only does the heart learn to pump oxygen more efficiently, but during exercise other tissues in the body also learn how best to extract oxygen from your blood. This is particularly true during higher intensity activities, or those that are carried out over a longer period of time.
It helps your blood vessels too
The small blood vessels around your heart need a good blood flow especially, in order to prevent any blockages in the arteries. Not only does regular exercise improve the blood flow around the body, but it is also thought to improve connections and branches between the blood vessels, which helps the blood to travel freely.
Your weight will reduce
One of the main risk factors for heart disease is your weight, those who are obese have a greater risk. Exercise is obviously a great way to reduce your weight and make sure that you are not only healthy but that your heart doesn’t have to work quite as hard too.
How much exercise do I need to do?
Most people are put off of exercise because they simply don’t think that they have the time to spare. However, if you want to keep your heart healthy and reduce your risk of heart disease then you should aim for around 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day.
So, this World Heart Day make sure that you give your heart a little TLC. After all, it always works hard for you, therefore it makes sense that from time to time you work hard for it.
