Your heart is a muscle, and a super important one.
That may seem like an incredibly obvious statement, but I think it’s an important point to remember. I feel we often treat the heart as this separate entity that just does its thing and should be left alone. It’s there beating away and if we mess with it, we could cause it to fail and that isn’t ideal.
However, the heart is just a muscle. Yes, it’s a complicated one with its own blood supply and electrical system but a muscle all the same. So, like any muscle, we need to strengthen it. We need to make it more resilient, increase its capacity to do work, stress it and all the while monitor its response.
The best way to challenge the heart is through interval training.
Interval training is essentially increasing the demands on the heart for a set period, then, allow it to recover. Doing this repeatedly increases the hearts ability to cope with a stressful stimulus and then return to a baseline or slightly elevated resting heart rate. If you can do this regularly and with a progressive increase in the challenging nature of the interval or activity, you can make a real, measurable change in the heart’s ability to deal with the burdens of everyday life.
At Accelerate Physiotherapy, do the above and we do it with consideration given to any other injuries or issues you may have. We choose exercises that are designed to ensure the heart is the primary focus and we monitor your heart rate throughout. Our goal to provide a safe and effective stimulus to make your heart stronger. Come join one of our Happy Hearts classes at 9:30 on Wednesday mornings in our clinic.
By Elliot Rechtin
M.Physiotherapy