Exercising can improve anyone’s health, alleviating mental stress and allowing people to build up their bodies physically. For someone with a heart condition, aerobic exercise can be a useful tool for strengthening the heart. You can learn how to exercise with a heart condition with the information in this post. However, there’s a fine line between healthy workouts and overexertion, and you should ultimately consult your doctor for specific guidelines on how to proceed prudently.

Types of Exercises to Do

Since you want to target your heart with your exercises, you should aim to do activities that help your heart become more efficient in its oxygen usage over time. These activities can include walking, cycling, jogging, and swimming. If you haven’t done any physical activity in a while, improve your endurance slowly. To illustrate, you can start out with a relatively short walk a few times a week and slowly increase the time you spend walking. When you feel comfortable enough, you might increase the intensity by jogging instead.

You could also ease into cycling by using an e-bike, which has electronic assist functions that propel you as you pedal. A motor attached to the bike helps your movements, so you don’t need to worry about tiring out.

Things to Remember

When you have a heart condition, you need to remember some special considerations before exercising each day. Extremes in temperature can make it more difficult for your body to maintain proper blood circulation. You should stay inside on those days and exercise in an indoor area instead. If you miss several days of exercise, don’t start up again with the intensity level you left off with; rather, slowly build back up to it to avoid straining your body excessively.

Signs You Should Stop

In the middle of your workouts, you may feel some discomfort. This is normal, but in some cases, it could indicate a problem. Learn how to exercise with a heart condition cautiously by stopping when you notice certain signs. These include excessive fatigue or shortness of breath, lightheadedness or nausea, and chest pain. Keep any necessary medication on your person when you’re out exercising, and notify your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms.