DAILY EXERCISE FOR A HEALTHY HEART

 It's often discussed but not always practiced – the importance of regular exercise for a healthy heart. While it applies to everyone in general, patients with pre-existing heart diseases and those who have experienced a heart attack, angioplasty, or heart bypass surgery can also benefit from daily exercising because it helps them keep their condition under control. Is exercise worth the effort? Absolutely, say experts. The benefits are endless when it comes to preventing future heart problems and helping current ones by cutting your risk of dying as well as depression and stress. It also improves overall health including lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels while giving you more energy to manage your day-to-day life!

General workout tips:

·         Pace yourself. Don’t do too much at once. Give all of your muscles time to rest between each workout.

·         Don’t exercise outside when it is too hot, humid, or wet. High humidity may tire you out quicker and extreme temperatures, such as cold or heat, can cause all kinds of problems in your body - from leg cramps to dizziness or nausea!

·         Stay hydrated. Drink water even before you feel thirsty, especially on hot days.

·         Don't exercise in hilly areas. If you must walk in steep areas, slow down, go uphill to avoid sweating excessively and causing dehydration

·         Wait at least an hour after eating a meal before you exercise.

Types of Exercise:

Cardio (aerobic exercise)- This makes your heart pump faster. It also increases your blood pressure by lowering it. You can walk, jog, jump rope or ride a bicycle to increase heart rate and get more air into your blood cells to prepare them for distribution. Consistency in aerobic exercises is essential which you can do at least thirty minutes three times a week. But start with whatever activity you are comfortable with. As your muscle tone improves and you feel able to go for longer periods of time, consider gradually increasing the amount of time spent on activities five or more times a week!

The best way to strengthen your muscles is by working out. But before you start the exercise, you should warm-up for about 10 - 15 minutes. Afterward, you need to cool down for up to 5 minutes as well in order to help yourself recover.

Strength training-  The benefits of weight lifting or resistance training can be very useful when heart patients are seeking effective ways to strengthen the heart and build a solid cardiovascular system. You can build your muscle tone while also raising your blood pressure if you lift too much and too quickly. The key is to have a lighter weight in your hands and to just lift it more times than what you normally would until you reach muscle failure.

By taking on an exercise program, you can help your heart. But it's also vital to increase your daily activity levels by doing things like Ride a stationary bicycle while watching TV or reading the newspaper. Take up gardening, or even take a brisk walk or bike on errands and take the stairs instead of the elevator.

How do you stick to the routine?

·         Ban boredom by picking a variety of activities that you like. Don’t do the same thing over and over again.

·         Make playlists. Use music to keep you entertained.

·         You won’t always feel like it and you’ll find all sorts of excuses to not do it but you’ll need to make a decision ahead of time and ignore that impulse.

·         Working out is more fun if you have a friend with you.

·         Stay within your budget. Avoid buying expensive equipment or health club memberships unless you’re certain you’ll use them.

Yoga for Heart Patients:

Yoga weaves the physical, mental, and spiritual parts of a complete workout together. Research suggests yoga decreases the risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases such as blood pressure, bad cholesterol, and overweight or obese body mass index by increasing the elasticity of the blood vessels and helping in reducing cardiac events. This exercise practice does not put as much strain on the body as other weight lifting or aerobic exercises do as it is Gentle Yoga for Women who suffer from diastasis recti. In addition, it does not usually require equipment or even space since you can do this exercise at home.

Watch out for these while exercising:

Stop exercising if you become overly fatigued by it or short of breath, or have chest pain or palpitations. You should be able to talk during your workout. If you can’t, this may be because it is too intense for you and something that might overwhelm rather than invigorate you!

Dr. Ganesh Krishnan Iyer, Best Cardiothoracic Surgeon in India, GKT IYER, Bangalore, India.