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Home » Fitness » Cardiac Health: Five fitness tips for heart attack prevention – Fredericksburg.com

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

This old adage often rings true. Apples are chock-full of vitamins and antioxidants, and some medical research suggests that fruits and vegetables can lower the risk of cancer and heart disease. However, diet is not the only ingredient needed for cardiac health.

Exercise is the cornerstone of every heart-healthy lifestyle. The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise, which comes out to about 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times a week.

In the United States, 1 in every 3 deaths is from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, according to AHA. Heart disease and stroke were the top two killers worldwide.

Fortunately, there are many ways to get the heart pumping and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Buying a fitness tracker or app is a good place to start. Scott Wohl of Fitness 1440 in Fredericksburg said the wide range of smart devices and apps available today have taken heart health to a new era, and technology has been one of the biggest areas of growth in the fitness industry.

Wearable devices provide a convenient aid to help people transform their habits and monitor progress, Wohl explained. Users can set heart-smart goals, like 10,000 steps a day, which pushes them to increase daily activity levels. These devices can also provide accountability, increase motivation and help users train more effectively.

What the average person is looking for is whether or not he or she has made progress day to day and trackers and apps definitely help, he said.

Fitness trackers typically measure the number of footsteps a person takes, distance traveled and specific type of movement (e.g. walk, run, etc.). More sophisticated devices also display a users heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels; track calories burned; and monitor sleep.

They are available in a number of forms including as wristbands, pendants and clip-ons.

Starting slowespecially for those with a sedentary lifestyleis often the best way to begin to make healthy changes. There are many programs and training plans available that can help individuals set realistic goals.

For example, Couch to 5K is a beginners running program that gets people off the couch and ready for a 5k over a nine-week period. Participants start by alternating running and walking, and as the weeks go by, they gradually build up to running 3 miles non-stop.

Keone Pierce of Fredericksburg Fit Body Boot Camp advises his clients to create small goals. This makes exercise less overwhelming and eliminates some of the pressure associated with starting a new workout routine. These incremental changes are the building blocks of a major lifestyle change.

Setting small goals keeps them coming back to the gym, Pierce said. It makes exercise a long-term lifestyle choice instead of a fleeting New Years resolution.

Sarah Jennings, a certified personal trainer in Fredericksburg, advised starting with a 20 minute walk and gradually moving up to a longer sweat session. The key is to set realistic goals, and then stick to the plan.

You must remain patient and consistent with your fitness goals no matter what they are, she said. We all want instant results, but that is just not realistic. Hard work and dedication are key.

Building exercise into ones lifestyle is important for consistency. Wohl said an overzealous approach can lead to injuries that will thwart even the best of ambitions. More importantly, that approach begins with a tremendous amount of failure, which can also defeat the best of intentions.

This understanding, alone, can overcome most I dont have the time arguments, Wohl said.

There are a number of creative ways people can sneak physical activity into their daily routine when the idea of reserving 30 minutes or more a day for exercise seems overwhelming. Wohl recommends parking far from your destination and taking stairs instead of the elevator.

Parents, teachers and caretakers can try joining children for a game of tag, jumping on the trampoline and playing on the playground instead of sitting on a bench.

Breaking exercise into small segments throughout the day can also be effective. Ideas include jumping jacks and high knees during commercial breaks while watching TV or performing squats and lunges while waiting on the microwave or brushing your teeth. Another good habit is doing a few exercises before bed each night and after waking in the morning.

According to AHA, some evidence suggests that too much sedentary time increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and death. So staying active in little ways throughout the day can play an important role in improving overall health.

A common misconception is that running is the only way to lose weight and build a healthy heart. But medical professionals and the fitness community have been working to dispel this myth for years.

AHAs weekly exercise recommendations include anything that gets the body to move and burn calories. This could be something as simple as climbing stairs or going for a walk.

The best way to maintain consistency and make exercise a habit is to choose an exercise you actually like doing. There are many creative options including trampoline parks, dance classes, swimming and sports.

Wohl said education and enjoyment often go hand-in-hand. He recommends exploring different exercise options and then trying to understand the benefits of the chosen exercise to improve awareness of why you are doing it.

The best bet is to first find something appealing for you to undertake while, simultaneously, you are pursuing an understanding of where you are and how you are going to get to your destination, he said.

At the end of the day, just as an apple a day is only one ingredient in a healthy lifestyle, fitness is not a magic solution to achieve perfect health. It is important to avoid smoking, overeating and other lifestyle choices that could undermine your efforts in the gym.

At some point, everyone gets off track. Jennings said that no matter how long it has beena day, a week, a month or even yearsthe important thing is to get moving again.

She also noted that guilt is the enemy of progress.

Get those awesome exercise endorphins rolling again and stop putting so much pressure on yourself, she said. Guilt sets in when people fall off the wagon. Crush any guilty feelings that rush into your mind. Just hop back on that wagon and continue to move forward.

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Cardiac Health: Five fitness tips for heart attack prevention - Fredericksburg.com

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Home » Fitness » Cardiac Health: Five fitness tips for heart attack prevention – Fredericksburg.com