How Exercise (Even Without Weight Loss) Dramatically Helps Your Heart

Best Types of Physical Activity to Reduce Cardiovascular Risks

When your doctor tells you that exercise can help your health, especially your heart, don’t think it is about weight loss. Yes, obesity is a risk factor for many health problems, especially cardiovascular issues, but there is another factor that puts you at greater risk for stroke, heart attack, diabetes, and other health problems – a lack of physical activity.

Whether or we like it or not, exercise is good for your body – especially your heart. And science proves it. But what science has also uncovered, which may be a great surprise to some, is that exercise even without weight loss is incredibly good for your heart. At Zepick Cardiology, we stress the importance of good lifestyle habits that can make big impacts on reducing our patients’ risk for serious heart conditions, including getting enough physical activity.

Many of us have had a battle with our weight scale and feel it’s a battle we can never win. But it is important that you do not let a number on a scale deter you from exercising. In this article, we’ll explain why the act of regular exercise can be incredibly beneficial for your heart health and how best to accomplish it.

Other studies show that aerobic exercise may also decrease arterial stiffness in people at greater risk for hypertension. Even as little as four weeks of incorporating aerobic exercise showed a “significant reduction” in arterial stiffness.

So, when it comes to incorporating exercise in your life to help improve your cardiovascular health, how much exercise do you need? And what kind of exercise is best?

Type, Amount & Intensity Level

If you are concerned about incorporating a lot of strenuous physical activity every day, you can relax. You do not need to start an intense daily exercise routine to achieve some significant benefits.

As we you will learn, even implementing a modest amount of activity into your lifestyle can start helping you reduce many serious health risks. Let’s start by understanding the recommended amount of fitness established by scientific research, an amount that most Americans do not meet.

If you feel you are out of shape, you are not alone. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at least one in 4 adults do not meet physical activity guidelines. What are those guidelines? Each week adults should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity.

How can you make that happen? Take a look at these potential examples of common activities to see ways you can adapt your schedule to meeting the minimum physical activity guidelines.

• Take a 30-minute walk on your lunch break every day during the work week.
• Do a 15-minute aerobic exercise video every morning each day during the work week.
• Take a 15 to 20-minute walk after dinner every night
• Take a 20 to 30-minute bicycle ride three times a week
• Hit the gym and lift weights for 30-40 minutes twice a week
• Do a calming water exercise class or gentle yoga class 2-3 times a week

Finding small ways to increase activity regularly each week will start to make an impact.

However, to achieve the biggest benefits to your heart, you will want to incorporate both aerobic training (like brisk walks, running, exercise classes, etc.) as well as resistance training, such as weightlifting. And you will want to gradually increase the intensity of those activities over time.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness

One way that science has determined how much exercise can help improve your heart health is by measuring something called your cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Simply put, your cardiorespiratory fitness is how well your body’s circulatory and respiratory systems supply oxygen to the parts of your body that produce the energy that is needed during physical activity.

Your CRF is an actual measurement. And your individual CRF score is a bigger indicator of how your physical activity is helping your heart than how much you exercise. Even having a low CRF number is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease as well as premature mortality.

As this is primarily a measurement of how well oxygen flows through your body, the way the CRF is tested is by measuring oxygen consumption while exercising. For people who are obese, overweight, or elderly, typically their CRF number increases by about 3.8 during aerobic exercise.

How do you improve your CRF? With aerobic exercise. That could mean going for a run, but it can be something less strenuous. A good walk, especially a brisk one, can be a beneficial aerobic activity to incorporate into your lifestyle several days a week or even daily.

In exercise programs of 6-12 months long, participants lost on average only about 3-4 pounds. However, even with this small amount of weight loss, those who incorporated regular exercise saw significant reductions in harmful fat (the fat that wraps around your abdominal organs).

And it’s not just good for your heart. In people who are overweight or obese, aerobic exercise can greatly help improve insulin sensitivity and glycemic control – even when there are no changes in body weight. It can also lower blood pressure and cardiac overload.

Exercise is 1 Part of Improving Cardiovascular Health

Exercise and weight loss are just some ways you can reduce your risk for serious heart issues. Making changes to your diet, getting enough sleep, reducing your exposure to pollution, and quitting smoking are other great things you can do for yourself that will greatly improve your health.

But, along with that, you need to make sure you seek proper professional care and take any necessary medications to best reduce any cardiovascular threats you are facing. You need to be sure to follow the care of your physician and/or cardiologist. Here in Wichita, the experienced team of cardiologists and medical staff at Zepick Cardiology work with our patients to provide them with the knowledge and all the opportunities they have in reducing their heart risk, and for living long and healthy lives.

If you have any questions or concerns about your heart health, contact Zepick Cardiology at (316) 616-2020 or visit our website.