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.

Calcium Tests for Atherosclerosis: A Prime Predictor for Cardiovascular Disease

What puts a person at risk for a heart attack?

You can likely name various issues such as a poor diet, lack of exercise, and cholesterol problems. While those are factors that increase a person’s risk for a heart attack or developing other cardiovascular issues, it only scratches the surface.

We have probably all heard stories of the middle-aged man who ran daily and died of a heart attack, yet a man in his 90s who smoked his whole life never suffered any cardiovascular issue. So, we know there’s more to it than lifestyle.

How can we get a better prediction at who is more likely to face a heart attack or stroke over the next five years? Fortunately, new research that began in the year 2000 has gotten us closer to answering that question. Scientists have learned that one test was vital in identifying an individual’s risk for suffering a heart attack or other cardiovascular problem.

A study was initiated in 2000 to drill down these risk factors to provide a more accurate and early prediction for a given individual’s specific risk. If taking moderate heart-healthy measures are not enough to decrease your specific risk, you would have the information and tools to take additional steps to further protect your heart health.

This study was called MESA, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

Blocked Blood Vessels: Testing for Calcium

For your heart to work well, it needs clear vessels for blood to pump through. When those vessels become blocked or damaged, that is coronary artery disease. The primary cause of coronary artery disease is atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease is probably something you never heard of, but it is quite common. More than 3 million cases of it are identified in the United States every year. Fortunately, there is treatment for someone with this disease or at risk for developing it.

Testing for atherosclerosis involves looking for calcium in your arteries. While calcium is great for your bones, it can be disastrous for your heart when there is a build-up of it in your arteries. It indicates your arteries may also have a build-up of plaque. Enough plaque in your arteries that harden could lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Having calcium in your arteries is not something you would notice or feel. It requires specific technology to test. Here in Wichita, technicians at Zepick Cardiology perform CAC tests to get this important information on an individual’s unique cardiovascular risks.

The MESA Study was able to determine that finding calcium in the arteries was a preeminent sign for being at risk for heart disease.  Simply put, if you had a large amount of calcium in your arteries, you were going to be much more likely to have some cardiovascular event occur within the next few years. Other tests on arteries, while still important, did not lead to as much conclusive evidence for future heart problems.

These calcium tests are so predictive, it helped identify high risk in persons that were considered low risk by American Heart Association guidelines. Reevaluating the risk using this more predictive test meant people could be given beneficial statin therapy who otherwise might not have been prescribed them.

Heart Attack Risks: Understanding your Coronary Artery Calcium Score

Patients who undergo the CAC test are given a rating from 0 to 300. A score of CAC = 0 means there was no calcium detected. A score of over 100 indicates a person who would benefit from a statin treatment.

While it is vital to identify when a person is at increased risk for a fatal condition, it is also incredibly valuable to identify when their risk is low. It can keep a person from taking medications or other treatments when it is not actually necessary for them at this time.

How does one get a coronary calcium screening? First, you would need to have it prescribed by a doctor, either your primary physician or a cardiologist. The test itself is done in a CT scanner.

Bottom Line: The New Impact on Your Heart Treatment

The MESA study has given cardiologists greater knowledge in knowing a person’s specific cardiovascular risks. There are now more signs cardiologists like those at Zepick Cardiology can look to in order to better predict your risks for heart disease. The CAC test to determine calcium levels in your arteries provides an excellent indication if you need to start treatment, such as taking statins.

Should you still worry about making lifestyle choices that are proven to help prevent heart disease? Absolutely. But modern medicine can help make sure you have a clearer picture of what risks you really have and, more importantly, what you should do about protecting yourself.

If you are wondering about your risk factor, you can start by taking the ASCVD risk estimator plus calculator available for anyone online by clicking this link. This will provide you with a 10-year risk estimate for a heart attack or stroke.

If you know your CAC score already, you can enter it into this online CAC score assessment tool to determine how your score compares to others with similar heart disease risks.

If you have questions regarding your coronary artery health or are wondering if you need to undergo a CAC test to determine your individual risks, give Zepick Cardiology in Wichita a call at (316) 616-2020.