Cardio exercises are vital part of natural heart disease treatment. However, which kind of exercises for heart you should preform, depends on your health and fitness level.
Although any amount of activity is good, the level of intensity won't be the same for everyone. Besides your condition, the kind of exercise that suits you, also depends on your character, free time and level of motivation.
BENEFITS OF HEART EXERCISES
TYPES OF CARDIO EXERCISES
Slow paced exercises includes lower intesity activities that are preformed for longer periods of time. These exercises are great for us with heart issues since they strengthen the heart muscle, while improving lung function and our ability to use oxygen, more efficiently.
Slow paced cardio is great for beginners and for those with heart problems, that are just starting to workout.
Fast paced exercises are high intesity activities performed for shorter periods of time. They offer some unique benefits, when it comes to heart function and blood flow, while increasing strenght, speed or power.
Fast paced cardio exercises such as sprinting, in several cases can benefit your cardiovascular system even more than slow paced cardio. However, it is not the best option for beginners or people with heart condition.
High intensity interval training or HIIT is similar to fast paced cardio but its intensity is pushed to the max, resulting in superb heart function.
Due to its difficulty, it is suited only for athletes and advanced individuals which have built up their conditioning, over time.
Burpees are time saving heart exercises which are suited for people that travel a lot, have busy schedule or lack of motivation. You don't need any equipment or workout clothes.
Only thing you need is a little bit of space and 5 minutes of privacy, per day. Although they aren't effective as HIIT, their effect on the heart muscle and body composition is still significant.
Breathing exercises are different in comparison to other cardio exercises. Instead of increasing heart rate, they work by relaxing the mind, lowering blood pressure and heart rate, while improving lung function and lung capacity.
They also work by relaxing the nervous system and strengthening mind-body connection, resulting in better heart function.
Crossfit workouts are similar to HIIT training due to their intensity. However, instead of focusing on one particular exercise, they incorporate diverse array of challenges.
They are even used by special forces to improve strength, speed, power, agility as well as cardiovascular endurance. Crossfit training is not recommended to beginners or individuals with kidney problems.
Cageball is my favorite type of cardio. It is dynamic game of football which is played in a cage, on a smaller field. It is very entertaining, highly effective and suited for beginners as well as fit individuals.
However, if you don't like it or you are unable to play it for whichever reason, there are other similar team sports which can be great alternatives.
HOW OFTEN
You should exercise three to four times per week, starting with aerobic activities lasting 10-20 minutes and working your way up. Many exercise experts recommend working out every other day since body needs time to recover.
However, it also depends on what kind of cardio exercises you are performing. Long and slow aerobic exercises for the heart, spike your cortisol levels which requires more rest in-between workouts.
WORKING YOUR WAY UP
When you feel fit enough to improve your aerobic training, you should include other aerobic activities into your exercise routine and prolong it, if you feel up to, until you are able to workout for 45 to 60 minutes.
If you think about quitting, due to lack of motivation or tiredness, then lower down the duration and frequency of your workouts. You may also found these cardio exercises - motivation tips helpful, in situations such as this one. However, you can always increase the length of your exercises, when you feel ready.
At this point, your are close to your max potential, when it comes to slow-paced heart exercises. Only way you could go further is by participating in a marathon which as the studies have shown, has more down sides then upsides, when it comes to overall health and heart function.
If you are jogging for more then 1 hour, stress hormones will continue to go up which can be counterproductive. Catabolic hormones can tear skeletal and heart muscle fibers, while affecting several other hormones and not in a good way.
If you really want to raise the stakes, look into fasted cardio, before stepping up the intensity. Working out on empty stomach can help improve heart function, not just burn fat.
STEPPING UP THE INTENSITY
Eventually, you will get to the point that you will be capable to include fast paced cardio exercises such as sprinting, into your schedule.
It also means that your workout time as well as the amount of slow paced exercises will decrease, due to increased intensity. As your cardiovascular system continues to improve, you will add more sprints and again, increase your workout time, gradually.
In the end, you should be able to mix sprinting and jogging for 30-40 minute workouts. For added intensity you can do hill sprints.
At this point, your cardiovascular system should be in top condition, while your blood pressure and resting heart rate are significantly reduced.
Beware of side effects associated with cardio exercises, by paying attention to symptoms of overtraining and prevention methods. All that hard work can go "down the drain", if you injure yourself or disrupt the inner balance of your body.
Note: You shouldn't push yourself into something that you don't want to do or aren't yet able to do. Also, consult with your doctor, before starting any kind of workout program, especially if you have some kind of injury or serious condition.
MAXIMIZE YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH PRE-WORKOUTS
Over time, as I overcame heart disease, I began to use black coffee to get that extra push, before working out. Eventually, I decided to try some preworkout supplements.
First I started with the basic ones which worked very well. However, I wanted to try something more stronger. Pre workout supplements that I am taking now, are so potent that I take them only once or twice per week.
On the other hand, these supplements aren't for those with health problems, especially if you have high BP, arrhythmia or some other heart condition.
CONCLUSION
I have tried all these programs but I started with jogging and sprinting. While both heart exercises were effective, I saw much better and faster results with sprinting as far as resting heart rate, blood pressure and overall conditioning is concern.
Also, anaerobic weight training has its benefits too, although sprinting is an anaerobic exercise. That being said, mixing several types of cardio exercises such as jogging and sprinting will have the most beneficial effect.
On the other hand, burpees, breathing exercises, cageball and even HIIT or crossfit, if you are up to it, can be great tools for improving cardiovascular system function.
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