Crisp Living: Best Exercises to Help Strengthen Your Heart

The heart is a muscle that needs regular exercise in order to stay strong, just like any other muscle. There are certain exercises that are especially good for heart health. As we all know, regular exercise can drastically decrease your risk of developing heart disease.

Many of these exercises are easy to work into your everyday routine. We discuss some of the best heart health exercises below.

It seems simple, but walking is a great way to easily strengthen your heart. Pick up the pace a bit to get your heart pumping. Go for a quick walk on your lunch break, or even on a treadmill while you work. Walking is an easy activity to do with friends and family, or you can enjoy a good podcast or some music while you walk.

Swimming is one of the best ways to work out your full body without putting stress on your joints, and it is especially good for your heart. You can swim laps, or even take a water aerobics class at your local community pool or gym.

Yoga is a great way to simultaneously exercise your body and brain. Yoga is great for toning muscles, and it can also get your heart rate up. Since yoga places emphasis on mindful movement, it can also reduce stress, which is beneficial for your heart as well.

Strengthening your heart doesn’t mean you have to exclusively do cardio workouts. Weight training allows you to build muscle and lose weight. And did you know you don’t actually need weights to weight train? You can use your own body weight by doing exercises like pushups, pullups, and squats.

Interval workouts are a great option for people who want to have a regular workout routine but don’t have a lot of time to fit working out into their schedules. Interval training raises your heart rate with short bursts of high-intensity exercise and then lowers it with lower intensity movement. Doing these exercises in a cycle can help improve your heart’s function.

Another option for people who don’t have much time for a regular workout routine is to make commuting a workout. Try biking to work as a way to get your heart rate up and strengthen your leg muscles. Of course, biking can be an activity you do just for fun too – not just on your commute. And as an added bonus, biking has mental health benefits.

 The possibilities are endless for ways you can give your heart the exercise it needs to stay healthy. Your heart is such a vital part of the way the rest of your body functions. So when you keep your heart healthy, you help keep the rest of yourself healthy as well!