Happy Valentine's Day! What Type of Exercise Is a Non-Negotiable for Heart Health?

Did you know our hearts beat approximately 100,000 beats every single day of our lives and pump about 5 liters of blood per minute? When we're exercising, our hearts can actually pump 15 to 20 liters of blood per minute. Pretty amazing for something that's the size of a fist, right? Valentine's Day feels like the perfect day to thank our hearts for everything they do each day!

A lot of people think that their heart health is predetermined due to genetics. But, this is not necessarily true. Our lifestyle can have a tremendous impact on our heart health.

So what activity should you do each day to thank your heart for all it does? While cardio workouts like walking, running and biking are great to boost our heart muscle, we now know that strength training is a non-negotiable for heart health.

Renowned cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol, author of Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity, has described how he always recommended cardiovascular activities to his patients for heart health until he started researching for his book and saw the evidence supporting the tremendous benefits of resistance training for heart health. He now does a combination of cardio workouts and strength training.

Strength training works by not only maintaining our muscle mass and bone density and how helps with mobility and balance. A cohort study of over 400,000 people found that a combination of strength training and aerobic activity conferred the greatest reduction in mortality. When you are building muscle, you're not only giving your heart a place to pump blood to but you're also improving your glucose metabolism which reduces your risk of diabetes and insulin resistance which can damage our circulatory systems.

Aim to do strength training two to three times per week. Don't worry, you don't need to go to the gym to incorporate strength training into your week. You can work every major muscle group right in your living room with lunges, push-ups, squats, resistance bands and free weights. If you need a customized program, reach out to me and we can craft something just for you!

While strength training is a non-negotiable, this is just part of heart loving lifestyle! Here are other "ingredients" of a healthy heart recipe!

• Aim for 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity OR 75 minutes of vigorous cardiovascular activity each week. Often it's easier to think of this number as 30 minutes on 5 days a week OR 15 minutes on 5 days a week. Our heart is a muscle. So, the best way to thank our heart and keep it strong is by giving it a good workout to keep our blood pressure and heart rate in check and build blood vessels which are essential for hearth and brain health. Wondering how to tell what is moderate and what is vigorous activity? Use the talk test. If you're a little winded but still able to carry on a conversation, your activity is most likely what we consider moderate. if you're really winded and not able to talk, your activity is most likely what we consider vigorous.

• Get flexible and balanced. Yoga, Barre, and Pilates not only are helpful for flexibility, balance and strong muscles but they also tend to help reduce our blood pressure and calm our sympathetic nervous systems. These activities are not only amazing for our how we look and feel but they also help to reduce levels of cortisol and other stress hormones that wreak havoc in our bodies.

• Thank your heart with comfort food. Comfort foods for our heart may be different than what you're thinking. Our hearts love fruits, vegetables, whole grains, minimally processed foods and lean proteins. Plant heavy styles of eating like the Mediterranean diet are often recommended by cardiologists because of the emphasis on fiber rich foods and omega-3 fatty acids.

• Complete the Stress Cycle. Completing the stress cycle means that our bodies get the signal to make the physiological shift out of the fight or flight stress response and into a more calm state. If we don't complete the stress cycle, the impact of the stressors and the stress hormones can build up over time and negatively impact our health. For more on this here

• Make time to connect. A big piece of our well-being is connected to the relationships we have in our lives. Make a point to connect with your loved ones or even just chat with a neighbor.

• Get your Zzzzs. Getting enough sleep each day is so important for our heart health and brain health. After all, brain health is heart health. Make it a priority to get 6 to 8 hours per night.

• Grab some exercise snacks! Little bouts of movement through the day are great way to boost your metabolism, keep your heart and muscles strong and can even help lower your cholesterol levels. Getting up and walking around even for just a couple of minutes is great for our bodies! And, remember, you don't have to be in workout gear to consider it exercise!

• Practice kindness. When we're kind, our bodies secrete the feel good hormone oxytocin. David Hamilton, the author of The Five Side Effects of Kindness, describes how oxytocin softens the walls of the arteries which means that the heart doesn’t have to push as hard for blood to flow through. This allows the blood pressure to drop. As he puts it, kindness is like a mirror. As we soften towards people, we soften on the inside too. Hamilton says you can get that healthy effect by doing nothing more than offering a smile.

However you choose to celebrate your heart today, I hope it feels great!

And, I hope you feel how much you're loved today! There's only one you in the world!