Valentines day is a great time to consider the gift cardiovascular exercise is for your heart:
Cardio prevents heart disease.
- Regular cardio leads to a 42%-44% reduction in the risk of developing heart disease.
- Even people who got fit later in life reduced heart disease and cardiac deaths by 44%-52%, despite changes in body weight.
Cardio protects even if you have heart disease.
- It reduces the risk of dying from the disease.
- It reduces the number of times you are admitted to the hospital.
- Cardio improves prognosis after a heart event.
- The benefits are greater than those seen from medications alone.
Cardio protects even if you have risk factors.
- Protection is seen even in people with hypertension, obesity, type two diabetes.
- People with risk factors who are fit have a better prognosis than people who are not fit with no risk factors.
If you are at high risk with lots of risk factors, one of the absolute best ways to lower your risk is to improve cardiovascular fitness.*
All it takes is about thirty minutes of moderate intensity cardio, three days a week to give your heart one of the most powerful protections available at any weight, age or health status!
Happy Valentines Day! Cheers to your heart health!
Keep Moving, Be Well,
Janet
Janet Huehls, MA, RCEP, CYT, CHWC
UMass Memorial Weight Center Exercise Program
Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist
Certified Health and Wellness Coach
These weekly blogs are general guidelines. These guidelines apply to patients who are cleared by a physician for the type of exercise described. Please contact your physician with any concerns or questions. Always report any symptoms associated with exercise, such as pain, irregular heartbeats, and dizziness or fainting, to your physician.
Please share these posts with anyone you know interested in losing weight with or without weight loss surgery. Click here to learn more about the UMass Memorial Weight Center
* Source: Exercise and the Cardiovascular System. Lavie, C, et. al. Circulation Research (American Heart Association Journal) July 2, 2015.
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