Keep Your Heart Healthy with this Workout Plan
A regular workout plan has many benefits; one of them is keeping your heart in good shape. Our hearts are a muscle and they get stronger and healthier with regular exercise. Incorporating a workout plan, however simple, into your week can be a vital component in warding off heart disease and other health problems. Exercise can be as simple as a daily walk or playing basketball with your buddies; people who don’t exercise are almost twice as likely to get heart disease as people who are active.
Among its benefits, a workout plan can help you lower your blood pressure and decrease your “bad” cholesterol while increasing your “good” cholesterol.
Keep Your Heart Healthy with this Workout Plan
- The first step to starting a workout plan is to take a fitness evaluation with your doctor or fitness professional. Have them test your resting and exertion heart rate, blood pressure, and body fat.
- Once you have an idea of your fitness level, you can identify some activities that you would enjoy and whether you would like to work out with a fitness trainer at a gym, by yourself at home, or join a sports team.
Workout ideas:
- Lift weights and use the treadmill/stationary bike/elliptical
- Trail run
- Join a sports team
- Learn to play tennis
- Group classes such as Zumba or Pilates
If you want to do something that’s above your current fitness level, set steps to achieve your goal. For example, you may want to become a runner but find that you need to take frequent walking breaks in the beginning.
- Your workout plan should incorporate aerobic/cardio exercise. This includes activities that get your heart pumping such as running, jogging, and biking. Although you should be breathing harder, you should still be able to talk to someone while you’re working out. A low impact activity like swimming is a great alternative for those with joint issues.
- Stretching is a very important part of any workout plan, preferably after you’ve warmed up or finished exercising.
- Strength training can be done with free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or your own body weight.
How Much Should I Exercise?
The goal should be 30-60 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity 4-5 days per week. If you are starting at a low fitness level, a brisk 30 minute walk 5 days per week would be a great way to get started. As you become more fit add running and strength training into the mix. Do strength training 2-3 times per week but let your muscles recover for a day between sessions.
Stop working out and seek immediate medical help if you have pain or pressure in your chest or the upper part of your body, break out in a cold sweat, have trouble breathing, have a very fast or uneven heart rate, or feel dizzy, lightheaded, or exhausted.
Failure to Treat Heart Disease
While these workout tips are important, know that when a medical professional fails to recognize the signs of heart disease they may be liable for a life-threatening health outcome. Contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer if you or a loved one has suffered from a failure to diagnose or failure to treat heart disease.
If you were injured because of medical negligence or lost a loved one due to a preventable medical error, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced medical malpractice attorney fight for justice on your behalf. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times larger with the help of a medical negligence lawyer. Call the most experienced practicing medical malpractice attorneys Bellingham has at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing people injured by medical negligence in Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
