Heart Healthy Exercises for Beginners

The human body is built to move. Fitting plenty of exercise, movement, and steps into your daily routine is essential to keep your body functioning properly.

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Plenty of our organs rely on exercise to stay strong, but especially the heart. Your heart needs to remain strong so it can properly pump blood throughout your body and the best way to keep it strong is through regular exercise.

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Moving your body on a regular basis can lower your risk for certain cardiovascular issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. When you exercise regularly, your body will also respond by getting stronger and more fit — which means daily tasks and activities may get easier for you to complete.

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Let’s explore a few different exercise types for beginners that can improve your cardiovascular health. 

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Aerobic Exercise

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Aerobic exercise gets your heart working hard through the movement of your body. Aerobic exercise is known to strengthen the heart, improve circulation, and help lower blood pressure. It reduces bad cholesterol (LDL) while raising good cholesterol (HDL), helping prevent heart disease. Regular aerobic activity also helps manage weight, regulates blood sugar, and reduces inflammation, all of which lower the risk of cardiovascular issues.

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Good, beginner-friendly, examples of aerobic exercise include walking, bicycling, swimming laps, and even dancing.

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Strength Training

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Strength training, which is also referred to as resistance training, is a type of exercise that involves contracting your muscles against an outside resistance. This resistance can come from a few different places including your own body weight, machines, inflatable balls, resistance bands, or weights like dumbbells. Strength training is great for building muscle, losing weight, and helping regulate blood sugar. When your body is leaner (meaning you have more muscle and less fat), you’re at a lower risk of heart disease.

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You can fit strength training into your workout routine by lifting weights, doing pushups or pull-ups, and using weighted fitness machines at the gym.

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Stretching or Flexibility Training

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While staying flexible doesn’t directly influence your heart health, it is essential to living a healthy and active lifestyle. Stretching keeps you limber and free from pain which then allows you to pursue aerobic exercise and strength training.

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Stretching should be done whenever you do another form of exercise, or at least once a day. Your provider or physical therapist can recommend stretching exercises that will work for your body at beginner levels. There are also group classes like yoga, tai chi, and Stretchlab where stretching is one of the main components of the class.

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The information on this site is for informational purposes only and should not replace direct medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your doctor or another qualified healthcare provider.

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Sources:

“Why Exercise Matters for Your Heart Health.” Mayo Clinic.

“3 Kinds of Exercise That Boost Heart Health.” Johns Hopkins Health System.

“Aerobic exercise: Top 10 reasons to get physical.” Mayo Clinic.

“Introduction to Strength Training.” PennState College of Medicine.