February is Heart Health Month, an initiative to spread the word about heart disease and the risk factors, modeling a heart-healthy lifestyle and encouraging those around you to know their family history and have their hearts checked.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is an umbrella term used to group a range of life-threatening conditions that affect the heart and its vessels. CVD is the leading cause of death in Australia, taking one life every 12 minutes!
Your chance of developing CVD increases with certain risk factors such as smoking, high cholesterol, poor diet, physical inactivity, being overweight, Diabetes, and high blood pressure (the most important CVD risk factor).
Exercise is a vital component to combat CVD. Not only will it prevent several risk factors but it also strengthens the cardiovascular system and prevents your risk of developing other chronic diseases. Plus a this study has shown that even a small increase in physical activity levels can make a big impact on our heart health. This study showed that:
– Running for one hour or more each week reduced risk by 42%
– 30 minutes or more of resistance exercise per week reduced risk by 23%
– 1 hour or more of rowing and 30 minutes of brisk walking were both was associated with an 18% reduction.
So, what are the guidelines?
– Aim for 2.5 hours of exercises each week, that’s just 30 minutes 5 x week.
– Try and exercise at a moderate intensity.
– Don’t just perform aerobic exercises, try to include strengthening, flexibility, and balance exercise for a full rounded exercise program.
– Make your exercise program enjoyable by changing your routine, location, bringing a friend, etc.
– Speak to an exercise physiologist to help with designing a program best suited to you!
Taylor R, Brown A, Ebrahim S, Jolliffe J, Noorani H, Rees K et al. Exercise-based rehabilitation for patients with coronary heart disease: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. The American Journal of Medicine. 2004; 116 (10): 682-692
