Sports to prevent a heart attack
Probably the most important way to prevent a heart attack is regular exercise. Endurance sports in particular have many positive effects on the body. On the one hand, the body’s fat reserves are activated by the even, long-lasting load, as is the case when jogging, swimming or even when walking, thus preventing or counteracting overweight.
This is particularly useful in view of the fact that overweight is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of a heart attack. This has several reasons. On the one hand, the additional body weight places a heavy burden on the heart, since high blood pressure and heart rates are now necessary for the heart to continue to supply the body with sufficient blood.
Furthermore, being overweight is evidence of an unhealthy fat metabolism and sooner or later leads to a hardening of the blood vessels (arteriosclerosis). This is also promoted by diabetes mellitus type II, which is strongly associated with overweight. Finally, moderate endurance sport also ensures good training of the heart, which reacts to the healthy load with growth of the heart muscle cells and dilation of the vessels.
Regular endurance training is an important pillar of heart attack prevention, even if you have already suffered a heart attack. It strengthens the muscles, promotes heart circulation, helps to reduce weight and blood sugar levels and can also encourage joint activities and be fun in heart sports groups! As a guide, you can start by doing half an hour of endurance training several times a week (3 – 5 times).This includes hiking, jogging, Nordic walking, cycling, swimming, water gymnastics, rowing or skiing.
Of course, the choice of sport depends on any existing diseases, such as osteoarthritis of the knee joint. Many of these activities can also be done in fitness studios in bad weather. Health insurance companies often support such projects and can help to find suitable training locations. Before you start training seriously and regularly, it is recommended that you have an examination with your doctor.
