Movement
Quick start tips for healthy movement
- Start moving and stay moving. Consistent, daily activity is the key to a healthy heart.
- Find what you love that gets you excited about exercise.
- Spend more time outdoors and less time at the gym.
- Move with friends and family.
- Get a standing desk if you work on the computer.
"To wild animals, movement is not a chore, not a temporary punishment for being physically lazy and out of shape, not an optional activity just for better looks.”
- Erwan Le Corre
What if we told you there was one prescription that could improve every one of your health concerns? It reverses heart disease, reduces high blood pressure, prevents obesity, makes you stronger, combats the effects of aging, and even helps you live longer. It’s free, has no side effects, and is accessible to everyone. Right now.
What if we told you that not taking that prescription could kill you?
What if we told you that taking the prescription could help you achieve your 100 Year Heart?
Are you paying attention yet?
This prescription doesn’t come in a bottle, and your conventional doctor won’t likely order it, but it will transform your life, restore your health, and help you achieve your 100 Year Heart…
Rx — Movement.
Once a day for at least 30 minutes. “Take” for the rest of your life. Effective for all patients and ages
There is no such thing as a pharma deficiency. You don’t need aspirin to survive or prevent a heart attack. But there is such a thing as movement deficiency. We live in a sedentary society that glorifies an inactive lifestyle and relies on dangerous medications to cover up the symptoms of preventable conditions.
Only you can take responsibility for your life and well-being; your body has everything it needs to heal. It’s your job to support it. Reclaim ownership of your health, prioritize clean eating, and get moving.
The benefits of regular exercise for your heart and your whole body are immense, but starting can be intimidating. In this guide, we’ll dig into the life-saving results of a physical lifestyle, how we can reclaim ancestral movement, and easy, practical ways to get started on your fitness journey — without spending hours in the gym.
As a species, we are becoming more stagnant. We spend our days sitting for meals while driving and when watching TV. We are not moving enough. The lack of movement leads to musculoskeletal issues like neck, back, and hip pain and decreased lymphatic flow, causing a back-up of fluids/toxins. This leads to inflammation and toxicity. Ultimately, poor heart health and other diseases are the end result.
Ancestral Movement
and the Rise of the Sedentary Life
Cast your mind back to a few thousand years ago. Imagine what it would have been like to live among our ancient ancestors. If you didn’t manage to catch dinner, you didn’t eat. If you didn’t manage to outrun the beast, you got eaten.
Our ancestors lived lives that required physical fitness. They weren’t living in caves, chugging protein drinks, and trying to get as buff as possible. They moved every day because they had to!
Short, intense bursts of exercise got their blood pumping and their heart rate up and caused them to breathe more intensely. Fighting other tribes for resources, running away from predators, tilling the earth, carrying heavy buckets of water, and hunting took up most of their time — all activities with heavy fitness requirements.
These hunter-gatherer cultures lived challenging lives with serious physical demands. Physical demands that protected the heart. It’s no surprise to find that people groups with high physical activity levels have the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease. Now, heart conditions are the number one cause of death globally. Do you see the connection yet?
What Changed?
Enter the industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Massive technological advancements drove people from farms and into toxic, crowded cities. Labor-saving devices like the spinning jenny, steam-powered machines, and the rise of the automobile meant that people no longer had to work as hard to survive. Instead of hunting, gathering, and foraging, people were sitting in factories, breathing in fumes, and moving much, much less.
Scientists have discovered that ancient people took an average of 17,000 steps each day.
Modern Americans get about 5,000.
Things only got worse with the advent of modern technology such as television, smartphones, computers, and video games. Drive-thru “fast food” and the ability to order from any restaurant without leaving the couch have contributed to an unhealthy, inactive society.
We now live in the middle of a “sedentary pandemic” that will cost millions of lives. Lack of physical activity (and its conditions) is one of the top ten leading causes of death and disability globally.
We were designed to include large amounts of moderate to intense physical activity in our daily routine. Without it, our bodies begin to break down.
Reclaiming the Word "Exercise"
As with most things in our hyper-commercialized, money-driven society, the word “exercise” now carries a weight of baggage and expectations. If you don’t spend an hour in the gym every day, have a visible six-pack, and look like a swimsuit model, you must be doing something wrong.
Magazine headlines scream from the supermarket shelves, “your dream body in just two weeks,” or “lose half your weight without trying,” and “flat belly fast!” We have been conditioned to expect instant results from fitness, and the media pushes targeted workouts to “banish belly weight” or “slim your thighs with these easy exercises.”
Instead of hunting for food, we hunt for the quickest and easiest way to eat what we want, exercise minimally, and have perfect bodies. When those magazines and trendy exercise regimens don’t produce results in the promised time frame, we often give up on exercise altogether.
The Problem with Spot Reduction
Spot reduction exercises, designed to burn fat in a single area of the body, lead to unhealthy obsessions with weight loss and body image and can create uneven muscle development that impairs functional movement. Plus, they don’t work!
Excess calories end up as triglycerides stored in fat cells in the body. These triglycerides must be broken down into fatty acids and glycerol to fuel exercise and enter the bloodstream before you can start losing weight. However, working a specific part of the body doesn’t mean you will burn fat cells from that area.
Instead of exercising to look better, we need exercise to feel better and support our bodies.
Each person has a body type as unique as their fingerprint. When you move every day and eat clean, whole, organic food, you will return or remain in a healthy weight range for your body.
What Exercise Means
"And is not the bodily habit spoiled by rest and idleness, but preserved for a long time by motion and exercise?”
- Socrates
Humans like to overcomplicate things. From diets to sleep to exercise, the studies, suggestions, and literature on achieving vitality and longevity are thoroughly confusing. Here at Natural Heart Doctor, we believe in reclaiming what it means to be human by looking at our past.
Gazing into the history of the human race, rediscovering the values, traditions, and health that seem to have deserted our modern society is essential. Like diet and sleep, exercise should be as close to our natural state as possible.
Movement is a lifestyle, not a chore or something to check off your to-do list. It is an intrinsic part of the human experience and can help you achieve your 100 Year Heart — precisely as nature intended.
8 Ways Exercise Improves Heart Function
Exercise and the heart are inextricably linked. You cannot have a healthy heart without regular, consistent movement. Below are eight science-backed ways exercise supports the cardiovascular system:
Regulates Weight
Improves Blood Pressure
Lowers Stress
Reduces Inflammation
Balances Cholesterol
Increases Blood Flow
Lowers Risk of AFib
Keeps blood sugar in check
1. Exercise Regulates Weight
More than one-third of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. According to a study from the American Heart Association, “Obesity…leads to the development of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular disease mortality independently of other cardiovascular risk factors.”
Hundreds of other peer-reviewed studies support these results. The rise of the obesity crisis and heart disease crisis has been almost simultaneous.
The cause? Along with increased processed food and sugar-laden diets, a severe lack of intentional movement.
Studies suggest that exercise is one of the most effective and beneficial ways to lose weight and stay healthy. This, of course, leads to less strain on the heart, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, and a healthier life overall.
Don't forget about the critical role of diet in weight loss! A heart-healthy diet can help fuel your exercise routine, keep your cardiovascular system happy, and help you shed those unwanted pounds.
2. Exercise Improves Blood Pressure
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can be a severe health concern. It leads to thickening of the arteries, which contributes to impaired blood flow and can increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular events.
According to the CDC, nearly 50 percent of all adults in the United States have high blood pressure. Only 24 percent have their condition under control, with most relying on dangerous prescription medication to regulate blood pressure.
The great news is, you don’t necessarily need to take drugs to have healthy blood pressure. Most cases can be controlled through the power of consistent physical activity.
Exercise not only strengthens your visible muscles, but it strengthens your heart as well. A stronger heart can pump blood more effectively and reduce the force on the arteries, which is directly related to a reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It also increases nitric oxide (a vasodilator) in your body. Low nitric oxide levels are associated with increased hypertension risk.
Exercise reduces blood pressure in people with hypertension and can help prevent it in those with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure.
As mentioned above, physical activity is another way to reduce obesity risk that contributes to high blood pressure.
3. Exercise Lowers Stress
Stress is one of the great silent killers of this modern age. Uncontrolled adrenaline and cortisol (the stress hormone) can wreak havoc on your body, raging like an out-of-control wildfire and placing strain on your heart. Chronic stress is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, and inflammation.
Regular physical activity, along with other stress interventions such as journaling, meditation, and quality sleep, is a great way to reduce the stress burning through your system. Exercise releases neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine and serotonin that help you feel good, boost happiness, and eradicate stres
Dedicating some time in your day to working out can also help you take a step back from your problems, clear your mind, and give you a chance to do something just for yourself — all necessary aspects of caring for your heart.
4. Exercise Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation, like stress, isn’t always a bad thing when it is acute or isolated. It is an essential bodily response to injury or illness. However, when inflammation begins to take over, things turn deadly. Researchers have discovered a link between chronic inflammation and increased risk of heart disease.
Several factors induce chronic inflammation, including an unhealthy diet, smoking, and, of course, a lack of physical activity. Therefore, it makes sense that increasing your daily exercise can target inflammation in the body and reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors.
Remember, inflammation can often be hard to detect until it is too late and a devastating condition has already developed. Take steps to reduce inflammatory markers today.
5. Exercise Balances Cholesterol
Cholesterol isn’t inherently bad, and even the villainized low-density lipoproteins (LDL) that carry cholesterol through the body are essential for health. However, the real issue is triglycerides packaged in very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDL) that turn into dense, harmful LDL particles which oxidize quickly and contribute to heart attack and stroke.
Numerous studies support regular exercise to reduce triglycerides, increase HDL (essentially the plaque “shop vac” of the arteries), and reduce harmful LDL.
6. Exercise Increases Blood Flow
Exercise and improved blood flow is a natural cause-and-effect relationship. You start moving your body at accelerated speeds, which increases the demand on your heart to pump blood faster and flush blood through your arteries.
Over time, this process becomes more effective, improving exercise endurance and safeguarding your cardiovascular health. Since regular movement allows your heart to pump blood more effectively, it has been associated with a lower resting heart rate, which could increase lifespan and reduce heart disease risk.
7. Exercise Lowers Risk of AFib
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is a serious heart arrhythmia that can lead to blood clots and stroke, fatigue, shortness of breath, heart failure, and heart palpitations. Most traditional doctors will jump straight to potentially dangerous surgery such as ablation or simply cover up the issue with prescription meds.
Thankfully, AFib is reversible! By implementing lifestyle changes, you can regain your heart health and restore it to a normal rhythm. One of those lifestyle changes is regular exercise.
Studies prove that regular aerobic exercise reduces AFib risk by as much as nine percent, even after adjusting for associated weight loss (which can also decrease AFib risk) and existing cardiovascular factors.
Additional studies point out that moderate physical activity reduces the risk of AFib even in those with left atrial enlargement.
8. Exercise Keeps Blood Sugar in Check
According to the CDC, over one in ten American adults have diabetes, while one in three have prediabetes. These terrifying statistics reveal just how damaging a processed diet and a sedentary lifestyle can be to your heart and health.
High blood sugar leads to high blood pressure, damaged arteries, poor cholesterol ratios, high triglyceride levels, and an increased chance of developing heart failure.
Type 2 diabetes is nearly 100 percent lifestyle-related. You are not bound to a life of insulin and blood sugar monitoring if you’ve been diagnosed. You have a chance to take your health into your own hands.
Exercise improves insulin sensitivity and glucose control, lowering the risk of diabetes development, helping manage existing diabetes, and regulating blood sugar. According to research, meeting the recommended minimum guidelines of moderate to vigorous physical activity has been associated with a 40 percent decrease in cardiovascular mortality.
Exercise after a cardiac event
You have chest pain, AFib, just had a heart attack, or are recovering from a stroke. That means you can’t work out, right?
Not even close!
Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body after a cardiac event to help restore your physical wellbeing and protect against further damage. Studies have shown that exercising after a heart attack can reduce your risk of death by up to 50 percent.
Talk to your doctor about the best kinds of exercise for you if you are recovering from a cardiovascular event. They can help you develop a plan that protects the heart and sets you on a path to success. Getting a treadmill stress test and having a routine physical where your doctor listens to your heart and checks an electrocardiogram (ECG) are excellent ideas.
We love these types of exercise to help in cardiovascular recovery. Be patient with yourself and start where you are. Don’t try to accomplish all of your fitness goals at once. Time and consistency will get you where you want to be.
Stretching
Studies have shown that stretching can improve vascular function and arterial stiffness, reducing the risk of a cardiovascular event and benefiting recovery after a heart attack. Warming up your muscles through stretching can also prevent tears and injuries, boost musculoskeletal health, and develop balance and flexibility.
Related Post: Top Daily Stretches for Beginners
Static and dynamic stretching is the foundation of a healthy body. Without flexibility, you cannot perform many other movements that contribute to heart health. After a cardiac event, stretching should be a top priority. We love yoga, tai chi, pilates, or simply whatever feels best for your body!
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise, such as walking, is one of the best ways to reclaim your health. It safely elevates your heart rate, improves blood circulation, strengthens your heart, and can help prevent further cardiovascular conditions. Any mobile person of any age or fitness level can get outside and go for a walk.
Soak in the sunshine, listen to the sounds of nature, or invite a friend to join you. You will look forward to your daily walk and reap the incredible benefits.
Related Post: 13 Reasons to Walk More Each Day
Resistance Training
Strength training helps tone muscles while reducing the strain on your heart. Always reincorporate strength training after stretching and aerobic exercise. Strength training does require a little more from your hard-working heart, so it’s best to have a foundation of fitness.
Avoid lifting excessive weight for as long as your doctor recommends (usually a few weeks), and incorporate light resistance training. Evidence suggests that resistance training can reduce risk factors for a repeat event such as a heart attack. Don’t lift heavy weights at first, as straining can cause your heart rate and blood pressure to spike. Bodyweight exercises are a great place to start.
Note: It is essential to know your limits and listen to your body, especially with exercise after a cardiac event. If you feel dizzy, lightheaded, or experience chest pain or nausea, stop what you are doing immediately and rest. Monitor your symptoms and go to the doctor if they worsen.
8 Life-Saving Benefits of Physical Activity
8 life-saving benefits
of Physical Activity
Along with improving heart health and all of its risk factors, physical activity is a fantastic way to support the rest of your body. After all, the body craves movement. You can prevent virtually every health condition (including some cancers) by adding exercise to a healthy lifestyle.
These life-saving benefits of physical activity may surprise you:
Supports Mental Health
Improves Sleep
Can Help You Quit Smoking
Boosts Muscle Tone
Supports Musculoskeletal Health
Improves Sex Life
Decreased Chronic Pain
Boosts Energy
Can Sitting too Much Kill You?
Unfortunately, sitting for hours in front of a computer has become the norm for many people working from home or in an office. The results of this sedentary lifestyle are horrifying, including obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, spine and musculoskeletal issues, early death, dementia, blood clots, and more.
Even if you spend 30 minutes or an hour each day doing moderate to vigorous exercise, it is difficult to reverse these effects with a single activity session. Get up and move around throughout your day and avoid spending time on the couch after work. Find active hobbies that interest you and keep you off your booty.
Desk Work & Movement:
10 Tips for Staying Active
- 1. Invest in a standing desk.
- 2. Get up and move around for a few minutes every hour.
- 3. Park far away from the entry.
- 4. Take the stairs.
- 5. Walk and talk. Have walking meetings.
- 6. Stand while you are on the phone.
- 7. Develop active hobbies for your downtime.
- 8. Eat your lunch standing up.
- 9. Perform a simple stretching routine every hour or find ways to exercise at your desk.
- 10. Set a timer to remind yourself to move
Aging and exercise: more, not less
Contrary to popular opinion, approaching the golden years doesn’t mean you have to slow down. Now is the time to amp up your exercise routine! Physical activity has incredible protective factors that keep your heart happy, reduce the musculoskeletal effects of aging, and improve coordination and balance.
It’s never too late to start exercising. Studies have shown that exercise later in life is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and death from heart conditions. Researchers even found that exercise in middle age and beyond could reverse the adverse effects of a sedentary lifestyle and protect against heart failure.
Aging is also associated with mental decline and memory conditions such as dementia. Regular exercise protects against the adverse effects of aging on the hippocampus, the part of the brain critical for learning and memory. It can also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia by producing favorable changes in the brain and improving blood flow.
No matter your age or fitness level, there’s no excuse to stop moving. Get out and do what you can but stay active!
Mind Over Matter:
Becoming Someone who Craves Movement
The hardest part of exercise is getting your mind on board. Societal pressure to look and exercise a certain way, personal failures to stick to a routine, and detrimental self-talk can all make you want to throw in the towel or not even start exercising in the first place.
You don’t exercise because you’re…
- Busy
- Overworked
- Overwhelmed
- Stressed
- Dealing with relationship issues
- Addicted to your electronics
- Confused about where to start
- Lazy
- Sick
- Tired
Silence the negative voice in your head that keeps you from moving and reframe physical activity in your mind as a privilege and a habit — not a chore.
6 Tips for Learning to Love Movement
Adjust Your Attitude
Exercise isn’t a task. Movement is a lifestyle. Cultivate this mindset, and you’ll start getting excited about different ways to incorporate physical activity into your day.
Develop a Support System
Surround yourself with positive, active people who encourage you to be the best version of yourself.
Break it into Chunks
That 30 minutes of exercise each day? It doesn’t have to be all at once. Break it into three, ten-minute sessions of vigorous movement that get your heart rate up. This is often easier to fit into your schedule, is more sustainable for many people, and can help you visualize success.
Play, Don't Work
“If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life."
–Marc Anthony.
This profound quote relates not only to your occupation but also to exercise. Find what brings you joy, gets you active and outside, and keep doing it! Participate in a dance class, join a community softball league, go paddleboarding, play volleyball, golf, or badminton. Humans naturally seek out and choose to spend time doing pleasurable, fun activities. You’ll prioritize what you enjoy.
Log Your Progress
Use a physical notebook to write down your exercise routine each day. You’ll find, over time, that you can accomplish more than you ever thought possible. When you feel discouraged about your progress, look through your book to inspire and motivate yourself. You are only striving to be a better version of yourself, not anyone else.
Reward Yourself
Who doesn’t respond to a good rewards system? No, don’t reward yourself with a cookie or a tub of ice cream — that just sets back your progress and feeds into negative food patterns.
Instead, whenever you stay consistent with exercise for a week, maybe watch an extra episode of your favorite TV show, get that new workout shirt you’ve been wanting, or use that organic bath bomb you were saving for a special occasion.
Exercise isn’t a task. Movement is a lifestyle. Cultivate this mindset, and you’ll start getting excited about different ways to incorporate physical activity into your day.
Surround yourself with positive, active people who encourage you to be the best version of yourself.
That 30 minutes of exercise each day? It doesn’t have to be all at once. Break it into three, ten-minute sessions of vigorous movement that get your heart rate up. This is often easier to fit into your schedule, is more sustainable for many people, and can help you visualize success.
“If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.”
–Marc Anthony
This profound quote relates not only to your occupation but also to exercise. Find what brings you joy, gets you active and outside, and keep doing it! Participate in a dance class, join a community softball league, go paddleboarding, play volleyball, golf, or badminton. Humans naturally seek out and choose to spend time doing pleasurable, fun activities. You’ll prioritize what you enjoy.
Use a physical notebook to write down your exercise routine each day. You’ll find, over time, that you can accomplish more than you ever thought possible. When you feel discouraged about your progress, look through your book to inspire and motivate yourself. You are only striving to be a better version of yourself, not anyone else.
Who doesn’t respond to a good rewards system? No, don’t reward yourself with a cookie or a tub of ice cream — that just sets back your progress and feeds into negative food patterns.
Instead, whenever you stay consistent with exercise for a week, maybe watch an extra episode of your favorite TV show, get that new workout shirt you’ve been wanting, or use that organic bath bomb you were saving for a special occasion.
Exercising Like Our Ancestors
It’s not very practical to go out on a hunt, build a shelter, or forage for food in a modern, urban lifestyle.
These easy suggestions help you reclaim ancestral movement and can get you in touch with your “wild” side.
- Go barefoot — Get connected to the earth by exercising barefoot when you can. This may take some time to build up to. Try minimalist or barefoot shoes at first.
- Get outdoors — Sunshine, fresh air, and the sounds of the natural world are critical for health and wellbeing. Bundle up in bad weather. There is no excuse not to get outside!
- Don’t forgo resistance training — Lifting rocks and water buckets, digging holes, felling trees. All of these common ancestral activities required great strength and used most of the muscles in the body. Incorporate strength training at least a few times each week.
Bodyweight exercises are often sufficient to achieve a great workout, but including weights can take your fitness level up a notch. Focus on activities with compound movements that are practical for everyday life.
I like burst activity — hike up the mountain and down the mountain. Walk fast, walk slow. I like using my breathing as a guide. If I am huffing and puffing, I know I am working hard. If I can have a conversation while active, I am probably not achieving my goals.
Our ancestors didn't spend 45 minutes on the treadmill, indoors at the gym, and under artificial lights with massive EMF. They were active and outdoors. The more time you spend outdoors, the longer you live. Commit to 30 minutes outside every day. Combine hiking, walking, biking, gardening, etc.
- Avoid the concrete — Concrete paths and roads are a modern invention. Find a grassy park (or just go to your backyard), walk on a trail, or find a dirt surface where you can exercise.
- Move more all the time — Our ancestors didn’t set aside specific times for exercise; they moved consistently throughout the whole day. Incorporate light to moderate activity into every part of your daily routine.
- Elevate your heart rate — Ancient people also had bursts of intense physical activity, such as during a hunt or when running away from danger. Incorporate “burst” or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) into your routine.
- Target different areas — Overtraining one area of your body, such as your legs or upper body, only leads to spinal issues and uneven muscle development. Take a note from the functional movements of our ancestors and exercise every area of the body equally. This generalist training is much closer to our natural state and can help keep your mind involved.
- Find friends — Ancestral tribes were very social environments, and most activities were done in groups, with people working together for a common goal. Find friends to enjoy activities with and keep each other accountable, encourage each other to push further, and inspire new and unique workout routines. Try fun activities you can do together such as swimming, racquetball, exercise classes, tennis, hiking, or rock climbing.
Bring your dog — Archeological evidence suggests that humans have kept dogs as pets for thousands of years. These four-legged friends likely tagged along on hunts and protected their human companions. Taking your dog on a walk is a great motivator to get you outside and moving.
If you don’t have a dog, it might be time to consider adding one to your family, as pets provide many health benefits.
- Let your body rest — Even cave dwellers took rest days. Set aside at least one day a week to give your body a chance to recuperate and repair muscles. This doesn’t mean forgoing all physical activity, however. Use this day to go on a gentle walk or practice yoga. Tone it down a bit but keep moving!
Ways to Get Moving
Whether you are just starting on your fitness journey or have been a regular workout buff for years, there is one critical fact to keep in mind. It doesn’t matter what type of movement you do as long as you’re doing something.
Yes, certain types of exercise may be more effective for certain conditions, body types, and desired results, but don’t get so overwhelmed by the type of exercise that you fail to do anything at all. The best kind of exercise is whatever you will do and keep doing.
Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercise per day. What those terms mean for you will vary depending on your age, fitness level, and the type of exercise you are doing. Be sure to include a mix of aerobic and strength training in your week and, above all, find what you love, keep it interesting, and stay consistent!
Staying Active:
Ways to Get Moving
- Biking
- Golf
- Gardening
- Jogging
- Swimming
- Skiing
- Racquetball
- Walking
- Dancing
- Climbing
- Hiking
- Stretching
- Bodyweight Exercises
- Basketball
- Weight Lifting
- Boxing
- Cardio Classes
- High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
- Core Exercises
- Kayaking
- Stand-up paddleboarding
The Power of Yoga
Yoga is often viewed as gentle stretching that doesn’t really raise your heart rate or provide any real cardiovascular or strength benefit; however, in reality, this ancient practice is one of the best full-body workouts you can do.
Yoga contributes to better physical health, improved awareness of breathing, and the ability to clear your mind and heart. It helps reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors as well.
A 2014 review found that yoga reduced blood pressure and heart rate, contributed to weight loss, and reduced markers of diabetes. Evidence also suggests that it decreases the occurrence of AFib, reduces anxiety and depression, and improves the quality of life in those with an AFib diagnosis.
Find what style of yoga suits you best and enjoy the incredible benefits.
Exercise Safe and Smart
How Much is Too Much?
Generally speaking, unless you are an elite endurance athlete, you are unlikely to over-exercise. Studies confirm that though extreme exercise could potentially increase the risk of heart conditions such as AFib, bradycardia, and ventricular tachycardia, less than one percent of the population will reach this level of risk.
However, you could be doing the wrong kind of exercise for your body at the moment. If you are sore, exhausted, or finding it hard to recover, you may want to tone down your exercise routine, take a few days of active rest with activities such as walking, and give your body a chance to catch up.
Any soreness or fatigue that lingers for longer than three days after exercise could be a good sign that you are pushing yourself a little too hard.
Avoiding Toxins
Workout clothes, gyms, and even the water that you drink to stay hydrated could all be contributing to your toxic load while you are exercising.
Chemicals in your athletic wear, such as triclosan and phthalates, lead to hormonal imbalances and can soak into your skin while you sweat. Only purchase clothing that is 100 percent organic and always wash it before wearing.
Deodorant is also another heavy contender in the toxin department. Most commercial deodorant contains aluminum compounds that plug your pores and dangerous parabens. Stick to organic, non-toxic compounds.
Avoid drinking water from public water fountains. Water fountains are not filtered, meaning they contain tons of chemicals and heavy metals that detract from your health. Always drink water from your own home that you know is safe. Use a reverse osmosis water filtration system for best results.
Conclusion
Exercise Daily to Achieve Your
Don’t create a disconnect between exercise and life. While it’s essential to set aside dedicated time each day to clear your mind and focus on movement, activity shouldn’t just be a single part of your day. It should affect every area of your daily routine.
Take the stairs, park at the back of the parking lot, get a standing desk, do some squats while you check your phone. Whatever your life looks like, make sure it revolves around moving. Sitting is a death sentence. However, regular, intentional movement will help you achieve your 100 Year Heart!
Medical Review: Dr. Jack Wolfson, 2022
