The real secret to a healthy heart

If you don't spend enough time exercising, your risk of heart health problems increases. Regular exercise not only burns calories, builds muscles, but also keeps your heart healthy. Like other muscles, the heart gets stronger with regular physical activity. When heart health improves, the heart muscle doesn't have to work as hard to pump oxygen-rich blood around the body.
Promoting effective blood flow is just one of the ways exercise helps your heart. Regular moderate-intensity or vigorous-intensity exercise reduces the risk of heart disease and heart attack. A healthy heart will help you cope with other stresses in your life, whether physical or mental.

Any form of exercise such as walking, running, biking or swimming, etc. can improve your cardiovascular health. Interval training or alternating short bursts of high-intensity activity with less intense activity is particularly effective.
Interval training challenges your heart by bringing it into the maximum heart rate zone for short periods of time. Maximum heart rate is the upper limit that the cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity, i.e. an intensity at which you feel like you are working very hard. Between periods of high intensity, your heart rate returns to the lower heart rate zone, and it allows for heart rate recovery. Getting your heart rate back after a short period of rest challenges your heart muscle in a way that helps it work more efficiently.
Here is a sample 40-minute workout that includes interval exercises:
Walk slowly to warm up, gradually increasing to a moderate pace for 5 minutes. Increase your pace to a brisk walking pace. After 5 minutes of brisk walking, speed up to jogging for 30 seconds to two minutes. Slowly walk at a moderate pace for one to three minutes. Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4. After 35 minutes, walk at a slower pace for 5 minutes to cool down.
If you have a chronic cardiovascular health condition or you are unable to exercise regularly then you should consult your doctor before trying interval training. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that people establish a baseline fitness level of exercising 3 to 4 times a week for 20 to 60 minutes before beginning interval training.

Endurance training also known as strength training also benefits your heart. Long-term endurance training can help lower blood pressure and also increase muscle mass. This helps your body burn calories more easily, maintain a healthy weight, and keep your heart healthy.

While exercise is an important part of maintaining good cardiovascular health, be careful not to get caught up in the loss of your time at the gym by self-care areas. For example, constantly worrying about things you have no control over can strain your heart. Make sure you get enough sleep, eat nutritious food, and take time to relax.
Take a moment to remind yourself of your health goals and the benefits you will reap from regular exercise. If a priority for heart health isn't on the list, add it. Once a week, this can be done by exercising with friends, joining a walking club, or trying a new activity.

Reference source: mayoclinic.org