Sunday, August 19, 2007 Paquiao: Strong heart By Calixto S. Paquiao fitness & you
NOT more than a couple of generations ago, doctors advised people with heart disease to go home, put their feet up and rest more or less permanently.
Of course, that kind of advice was just the thing to make you feel old before your time. And only that we now realize that putting your feet up can easily make the problem worse.
Getting active can lower your risk for heart disease for a number of reasons.
Exercise has been shown to boost high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and to lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Studies find that people who exercise regularly have lower levels of blood-borne fibrinogen, a major player in blood clot formation.
Exercise can also help you lose excess weight and manage stress. And it can help strengthen your heart.
With exercise, your heart will pump more blood per beat and will beat more slowly. A slower heart beat is a sign of a younger heart. And if you already have heart disease, exercise can lower risk of having heart attack.
Studies have found that people who exercise regularly following heart attacks have better survival rates than those who led straight for the lounge chair afterward.
You should never start an exercise program without checking with your doctor first. But once the check up is out of the way, you have a wide range of exercise programs to choose from.
That’s what I always require from my clients before they can be given an exercise program—especially heart bypass patients and those with hypertension.
Here’s some advice that can help you customize your routine for heart-targeted workouts.
Aerobics. You need some aerobic exercise, like walking, jogging, cycling or dancing, to help strengthen your heart. But start on moderate speed of walking if you are a heart patient.
Such activities really benefit you twice. They help control your weight and they help your heart. Aim for 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise, five to six times a week.
Weight training. Includes moderate weight training sessions two or three times weekly.
Doctors used to think that resistance training was out of bounds if you had high blood pressure because they thought lifting weight could trigger a heart attack. But several studies show that blood pressure rises only slightly during weight training.
Moreover, research suggests that for people over 60 with mild hypertension, resistance training can ultimately lower blood pressure. Also to play safe, I strongly recommend use of weight machines instead of the traditional barbells and dumbbells.
