Two Ways to Improve Your Heart Health

Cardio exercise is your heart’s best friend! It makes your heart stronger, your blood vessels more supple, and lowers your cholesterol. It develops the endurance you need to engage in various activities without excessive breathlessness.

To get these benefits, engage in movements that use the large muscle groups of the body, and continue the activity for a sustained amount of time. Join cardio classes that are offered weekly: Cardio Fit, Total Body Blast, or classes in the pool. Or walk, swim, take the stairs, or use the NuStep, elliptical, or bicycle in the gym. You can structure your cardio exercise session in two ways: continuous training or interval training.

Continuous Training

In continuous training, you warm up until you reach the desired intensity level. Then you sustain this effort level for a time. After which you cool down by reducing the intensity before stopping. Below is a graph of a continuous workout.

Interval Training

Interval training also begins with a warm up. Next, add short, more intense exercise segments, or work intervals, followed by recovery intervals. The work intervals can vary in length, from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Your goal is to push yourself for that short amount of time so its feels hard but doable. You could achieve this by moving more quickly, such as walking faster. Or you could increase the resistance, such as walking up a hill, or adding resistance on a cardio machine.

After the work interval, slow down but don’t stop. That’s your recovery interval. The duration is similar to the work interval, 1 to 3 minutes. Repeat the cycle. If you are just getting started, 3 to 5 repetitions of the cycle are sufficient. At left is a graph of an interval workout.

If you are doing continuous training but want to spice things up, try an interval workout. Studies show it increases cardiovascular fitness quickly. If you have reached a plateau, interval training can take you to the next level. It can be a challenging workout, so only one or two interval workout sessions weekly are all you need. Do your usual continuous training on other days. Whether you choose continuous or interval training, your heart will love you for it!