During physical activity, the cardiovascular system goes through numerous changes. The body can increase cardiac output, which is closely related to the degree of dilation of skeletal muscle blood vessels. This also causes metabolic changes that occur in skeletal muscles during physical activity.
Movement is the most important protection against heart disease. That’s why walking is recommended for prevention as well as rehabilitation after heart disease. It is a safe physical activity, both from a cardiovascular and orthopaedic point of view, easily accessible to everyone, and does not require equipment or instruments.
“Consistent walking is a great form of exercise to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease and is often correlated with other healthy habits and behaviours,” says Dr. Tamanna Singh, co-director of the sports cardiology centre at the Cleveland Clinic.
The Heart Is A Muscle
The heart is a muscle and the best way to strengthen it is through training. Walking speeds up the heart rate improves circulation and strengthens the heart. It also helps reduce blood pressure, lose excess weight and optimize blood sugar levels.
Walking at a brisker pace raises the heart rate to a moderate intensity, which promotes cardiovascular health, but it doesn’t mean you have to walk fast if you don’t feel like it or are not advised to do so. The latest research shows that it is the amount of physical activity that matters, not the intensity.
We Are Not Equipped To Sit All The Time
Several hundred postal workers participated in the research in England and were given a device to monitor heart activity. The respondents were divided into two groups – office workers and postmen composed of healthy non-smokers who do not have diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease.
People whose jobs require sitting have been found to have a larger waist circumference and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than field workers. It has also been proven that the risk of heart disease spikes by 0.2% per additional hour.
“Longer time spent in sedentary posture is significantly associated with larger waist circumference, higher triglycerides (fat in the blood), and lower HDL cholesterol, all adding up to the worse risk of heart disease,” says Dr. William Tigbe, who led the research.
Lower Risk Of Heart Failure In Older Women
Cardiac arrest affects women over the age of 60 more often than all other groups. Since the treatment of this disease is frequent, as well as problems with poorer blood pumping due to weakening of the heart muscle, scientists and doctors are increasingly recommending the prevention.
Research from the University of Buffalo in New York addressed the impact of physical activity on health in patients with weakened heart muscle. It has been shown that walking is the most effective in preserving the blood pumping function.
“For every additional 30 to 45 minutes of daily physical activity, the risk of cardiac arrest decreased by nine per cent,” say the authors of the study, emphasizing that the intensity of the activity itself had no effect on the results. In other words, a long daily walk significantly helped patients.
Move More
Numerous studies show that the frequency of cardiovascular diseases, especially coronary heart disease, is inversely related to physical work capacity. Physical activity reduces known risk factors and has beneficial effects in preventing the development of atherosclerosis.
Physically active people have twice lower the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, even in the presence of the main risk factors. Dosed, controlled and continuous physical activity reduces the mortality of patients after myocardial infarction. The risk of complications during physical activity is negligible, especially if walking is practised as a form of physical activity.
