Losing weight and "getting ripped" may be the first things that emerge to your mind when thinking about the advantages of exercise. But there is one advantage that is even more important: maintaining a healthy heart.

Because the heart is the most vital muscle in your body, it demands special treatment, right? Let's have a look at some of the best workouts for heart health and lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Aerobics

Aerobic exercises are designed to get your heart rate up and make you sweat. Aerobics improve circulation and help lower blood pressure. For diabetics, it also helps control blood sugar levels.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all adults do at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per week, at intervals of 10 minutes or more. Examples of moderate-intensity aerobics include:

• Taking a leisurely swim
• Gardening
• Dancing
• Going for a brisk walk
• Biking on flat terrain

If you want to exercise but don't have much time, one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity will be enough. These intense workouts are designed to keep you breathing hard and your pulse rate up. The following are some examples of vigorous-intensity aerobics:

• Swimming laps
• Playing soccer
• Hiking uphill
• Jogging
• Bikin

It's okay to combine moderate and high-intensity aerobics during the week if you want.

However, don't feel pressured to try too hard. If you just want to meet your weekly cardio needs by just walking, that's perfectly fine. Walking is a great low-impact exercise that gives you all the health benefits of higher-intensity exercise without overexerting yourself.

Strength training

Strength training (also called resistance training) is another great way to improve your heart health. Combined with aerobic exercise, weight training helps increase good cholesterol and lower bad cholesterol. It can also reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Both the CDC and the American Heart Association recommend strength training at least twice a week (on non-consecutive days)

These strength training workouts should ideally target all of your main muscular groups, including your arms, legs, hips, chest, shoulders, abs, and back. Although this may appear difficult, it is nothing like the weightlifting and bodybuilding you see on TV. Strength training exercises include the following:

• Doing pushups
• Doing situps
• Doing squats
• Lifting free weights
• Using resistance bands

Sets of strength training exercises should be performed. Each set should consist of 8 to 12 repetitions, or until you are unable to execute another repetition without assistance

Flexibility

While they don't directly affect your heart health, flexibility and stretching exercises have many benefits to your workout. Activities such as yoga, tai chi, and pilates not only improve flexibility and balance, but also reduce the possibility of developing cramps, joint pain, and muscle pain during exercise.

Flexibility exercises make it simpler to participate in the various sorts of physical activity required for a healthy heart. The beautiful thing about flexibility exercise is that you can do it whenever and anywhere you prefer. Improving your flexibility is always a smart idea if you're serious about heart health, whether it's warming up before a workout, attending a hot yoga session, or simply stretching in your living room.

To know more about heart health and to get expert advice for your heart condition visit Hill Regional Hospital, call us now for quality treatment of your heart.