Exercise is an important part of keeping your heart healthy. It can also help you if you already have some form of heart disease. However, in both cases the first thing you should do is talk to your doctor about the kind of exercise you are planning on doing, for it may not be advisable.
Exercise is a part of an active lifestyle, but it is not the only part. Look at your daily life and honestly answer: how can you increase your activity? Are you taking the stairs or the elevator? Parking right in front of the mall or far away? Taking the nearest bus station or walking down a few blocks? Have you played with your children/pets lately?
Once you have increased your activity level on a daily basis it is time to look at exercise.
The best exercise for your heart is walking. Actually, any type of cardio exercise (treadmill, bicycle, stairs, step, dance, etc) is great, but walking has several advantages:
1) It is easy to do and requires no equipment.
2) It can be done in groups, which increases the likelihood you stick to it.
3) You can take different routes to make sure you never grow bored.
4) It can be inserted onto your daily activities – instead of driving to work, why not go by feet? Or if it is too far take the bus but drop at a station 30 minutes away from work. If you prefer, do it the other way around and walk home.
The only equipment you will need is yourself. However, I recommend you buy walking shoes and comfortable clothes (you can use regular clothes and take the shoes in a bag if you are walking to or from work).
But there is something you want to get anyway – a walking buddy. There are several ways to get one. The best is asking your family and friends – everyone wants to have a healthier heart (or drop some pounds). If you search the Internet you will find many walking or exercise buddies sites where you can look for people in your area who want to exercise too.
Another tip is getting a diary where you log when you walk/workout and for how long. You want to aim for 30 minutes 5 or 6 times per week and then gradually increase to 60 minutes (maybe a 30 minutes walk to work and then 30 minutes back to home). When you miss a session, reschedule it to another day, so as to make at least 150 minutes per week at the beginning and having 300 minutes as a target.
Exercise is a part of an active lifestyle, but it is not the only part. Look at your daily life and honestly answer: how can you increase your activity? Are you taking the stairs or the elevator? Parking right in front of the mall or far away? Taking the nearest bus station or walking down a few blocks? Have you played with your children/pets lately?
Once you have increased your activity level on a daily basis it is time to look at exercise.
1) It is easy to do and requires no equipment.
2) It can be done in groups, which increases the likelihood you stick to it.
3) You can take different routes to make sure you never grow bored.
4) It can be inserted onto your daily activities – instead of driving to work, why not go by feet? Or if it is too far take the bus but drop at a station 30 minutes away from work. If you prefer, do it the other way around and walk home.
The only equipment you will need is yourself. However, I recommend you buy walking shoes and comfortable clothes (you can use regular clothes and take the shoes in a bag if you are walking to or from work).
But there is something you want to get anyway – a walking buddy. There are several ways to get one. The best is asking your family and friends – everyone wants to have a healthier heart (or drop some pounds). If you search the Internet you will find many walking or exercise buddies sites where you can look for people in your area who want to exercise too.
Another tip is getting a diary where you log when you walk/workout and for how long. You want to aim for 30 minutes 5 or 6 times per week and then gradually increase to 60 minutes (maybe a 30 minutes walk to work and then 30 minutes back to home). When you miss a session, reschedule it to another day, so as to make at least 150 minutes per week at the beginning and having 300 minutes as a target.
A final tip – drink lots of water. The last thing you want is a heart attack because of the lack of liquids in your body!
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