10 Steps To A Healthier Heart

Your heart is constantly working, so why not give your heart a “break” by focusing on a lifestyle that will promote a healthy heart!?

10 Steps To A Healthier Heart

1. Keep your Cholesterol low, aiming for less than 200 milligrams/deciliter and keep your Blood Pressure below 120/80. Garlic has been shown to reduce both cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

2. If you smoke, it’s time to quit the habit. Three years after a person quits smoking, their chance of having a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked before.

3. Eat more heart healthy fats such as  wild salmon, nuts, avocados, olive oil, and flax seeds. Studies show that consuming two or more servings of fish per week is associated with reducing the risk of developing coronary heart disease by 30 percent.

4.  Reduce the stress in your life. Take a break. Get a massage. Go on vacation. Meditate! Do whatever you need to do to reduce the amount of stress in your life. Stress has a negative affect on your heart and overall health.

5. Exercise! Physical activity is a huge factor when it comes to having a healthy heart. Aim for either 1 hour and 15 minutes each week of vigorous physical activity or 2 1/2 hours each week of moderate intensity exercise.

6. Get to – or maintain – a healthy weight. Those with a healthy BMI were shown to have less risk of heart disease.

7. Avoid fried, fatty, and sugary foods. Yep, they may taste good, but they aren’t doing your heart (or the rest of your body) any favors since these foods have been linked to heart disease, clogged arteries, cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, and the list goes on. In the long run, it’s just best to stay away.

8. Keep your glucose levels down.  You should aim to have your fasting blood glucose levels to be less than 100 milligrams/deciliter.

9. Eat more fiber rich foods, such as whole grains, beans, lentils, apples, tomatoes, carrots, pears, and squash (ok, just about all fruits and vegetables).

10. Limit the amount of sodium you consume each day! You should try to have less than 1,500 milligrams a day.

Get Started Today

Choose which step to work on for a healthier heart. You don’t have to try and tackle all of these steps today. Work on steps that are easier for you, and work on them one at a time. You’ll soon realize how good it feels to take care of the little muscle that works so hard to keep you going.

A healthy heart, a healthy you!

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Tags: February, Fitness, Heart Health, Heart Health Month, Nutrition, overall health

Exercise Can Be Fun!

Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. You don’t have to physically walk into a gym to burn extra calories, lose weight, and become healthy.

Did you know that you can make exercise fun?  Check out the video below and you’ll understand what I am talking about!

What other fun exercises can you come up with?

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Tags: burn calories, exercise, fun

Know Your Heart Rate Zones

Too many gym goers  just aren’t seeing the results they want to see. They don’t know what they are doing wrong, and most of them just stop going to the gym altogether. Problem is, just going to them gym and exercising your hardest just isn’t always the best way to see the results you are after. If you want to maximize your exercise results, the key to your problems is knowing your heart rate zones.

Calculating Heart Rate Zones

If you want to reach your goals in the gym, you first need to know what your maximum heart rate is.

Maximum Heart Rate

220 – age = Maximum Heart Rate

For example, if you are 30 years old:

220 – 30 = 190

Now that you know what your maximum heart rate is, you can determine what your heart rate zones are.

Heart Rate Zones

Zone One: 65% – 75% of Maximum Heart Rate

Zone Two: 80% – 85% of Maximum Heart Rate

Zone Three: 86% – 90% of Maximum Heart Rate

For example, if you are 30 years old:

Zone One: Heart Rate of 123.5 – 142.5

Zone Two: Heart Rate of 152 – 161.5

Zone Three: Heart Rate of 163.4 – 171

Advantages Of Each Heart Rate Zone

Zone One

• This is a great zone for your warm up and cool down during the exercise.

• If you are new to working out, this is a great zone to stay in during your entire cardio workout.

• This zone will help improve the blood’s ability to deliver oxygen throughout the body and remove waste which increases blood volume and allows the heart to become stronger.

• This is an Aerobic workout, which uses your muscle glycogen and fatty acids as an energy source.

• An example workout would be walking or even jogging.

Zone Two

• This zone is near the anaerobic threshold, which is when the body is at a point where it can no longer produce enough energy for the muscles with normal oxygen intake. As a result, higher levels of lactic acid is produced. Increase your anaerobic threshold should be one of your cardio goals.

• Exercising at an aerobic level, such as being in Zone Two, will result in more calories being burned with a higher percentage of those calories coming from fat. This is an effective zone for those who want to decrease body fat.

• This is the Aerobic/Anaerobic workout, which uses your muscle glycogen and lactic acid as an energy source.

• An example workout would be jogging, group (cardio) exercise classes.

Zone Three

• This is a high intensity workout that can’t be kept up for a long period of time. You should only stay in this intense zone for 60 seconds or less.

• Once you have worked your way up to this zone, you should only go into this zone about once a week – that’s it! If you go into this zone too much, you will overwork your heart and have less efficient workouts.

• Zone Three should only be used in conjunction with Zones One and Two.

• The benefit of Zone Three is to prevent  plateaus and to continue improving your overall fitness level and boost your metabolism.

• Increases the amount of oxygen burned after the workout, also increasing the number of calories burned after the workout.

• This is an Anaerobic workout, which uses ATP/CP and muscle glycogen as an energy source.

• An example workout would be a fast run or sprinting.

Interval Training

Knowing how to use your heart rate zones to your advantage will help increase the effectiveness of your workouts.

Before you start any exercise program – especially Interval Training – I suggest that you get the approval from your Doctor to make sure your heart can handle the intensity involved in this kind of workout.

Beginners

Zone One: 20-40 minutes (entire workout)

• If you haven’t been exercising consistently, it’s important that you start here. You will still get a good workout in, without causing more harm than good. You need to develop a strong cardio base before you move on to other heart rate zones.

Intermediate

Zone One: 5 minutes (warm up)

Zone Two: 1 minute

Zone One: 5 minutes

Zone Two: 1 minute

Zone One: 5 minutes

Zone Two: 1 minute

Zone One: 5 minutes (cool down)

• You may only end up being in Zone Two for about 15 or 30 seconds, rather than the entire minute. That’s OK and is expected. Once the minute is up, it’s time to go back into Zone One for 5 minutes. If you never reached Zone Two during that minute, your heart may not be ready for Zone Two.

Advanced

Zone One: 10 minutes

Zone Two: 2  minutes

Zone Three: 1 minute

Zone Two: 1 minute

Zone One: 10 minutes

• This Zone should not be used by beginning or intermediate clients, otherwise it could result in a critical health-related injury.

I suggest buying a Heart Rate Monitor that can easily provide you with your heart rate throughout your workout so you can adjust your pace accordingly. You can manage your heart rate while walking, jogging, running, biking, or even on an elliptical machine or group exercise class. Just monitor your heart rate regularly and know which zone you should stay in.

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Tags: exercise, Fitness, Heart Rate Zone, Weight Loss

Are You Making One Of These Common Exercise Mistakes?

One of the hardest things about going to the gym is not working out- it’s watching other people workout. Why? Most people are doing the exercises wrong, which is a bigger deal than most people realize. Common exercise mistakes could either reduce the workout’s effectiveness or cause serious injury.

As a Certified Personal Trainer, I have learned a thing or two about doing exercises properly, and I have created a list of exercises you need to make sure you are doing correctly.

Exercise Mistake: Lifting Too Fast

If you are going to lift weights, you need to make sure that you make the most out of every single rep that you do. Lift the weights slowly, which will allow for a much more effective workout, prevent injury, and will help allow you to do the exercise correctly.

Weightlifting is not a race.

Exercise Mistake: Overlooking Heart Rates

A lot of people hop on those exercise machines like it’s nobody’s business. The problem is, most people don’t start exercising at the cardiovascular level that they should be. They are usually out of shape and try to keep up with those who have been exercising every day for their entire lives.

The best thing you can do is find out which heart rate zone you should start in, and don’t over do it by skipping to a higher heart rate zone that your heart (and the rest of your body!) just isn’t ready for.

Exercise Mistake: Not Stretching

I would say the exercise mistake is “forgetting to stretch”, but let’s face it. You remember to stretch, but you probably just don’t want to do it. Don’t worry, I’ve been there. Once I started to learn more about the benefits of stretching with my exercise program, I took my stretching a lot more seriously. So why do you need to stretch? It helps prepare your body for your workout. It helps prevent injury. Stretch before and after your workouts.

Exercise Mistake: Never Changing Your Workout

If you want to continue seeing positive results with your workouts, you need to switch things up with your workout routine. Your body needs change on a regular basis, and I think you will need it for your sanity, too!

Exercise Mistake: Forgetting to Check Yourself Out

Wait! Did I just tell you to check yourself out? Yes. Well, not in the way that you think. Check yourself out when you are exercising – especially lifting weights – to ensure that you are using proper form. Proper form will help you have a much more effective workout as well preventing injury. Of course, don’t overdo it when you are checking yourself out, since that could cause a problem too (See guy in picture? Very bad form…not good.).

Exercise Mistake: Overdoing It/Not Doing Enough

We all have workout sessions where we get excited about making a positive change in our lives, and we just over do it with our workout. Try your best not to over do it again and again, since it can have a negative impact on your workout results.

Just as some people have a problem overdoing it, some just don’t do enough in their workouts. If you leave the gym feeling like you didn’t workout at all, you just aren’t doing enough. Remember, it’s perfectly normal to sweat while you are working out. Don’t be afraid to burn some calories!

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Tags: effective workout, exercise, exercise mistakes, Fitness, prevent injury

Is Your Relationship Making (or Keeping) You Fat?

When you are in a relationship, the last thing you would expect or want to do is gain a few extra pounds of fat. Then again, maybe that’s why they call it “Love Handles”?

Here’s a few tips to help prevent you from gaining those extra pounds by being in a relationship:

Keep Impressing

Too many men and women get married and totally let themselves go. Don’t let that be you. Remember when you used to care about the way you looked? You used to do things to impress your guy/gal. Just because you’re off the market doesn’t mean you’re done trying! Eating healthy and exercising do much more than just help you with a rockin’ bod, it will help you enjoy a long life together, without pesky health problems.

Start New Hobbies

Keep your relationship fun and exciting – pick up a new (active) hobby together! Maybe you can both learn how to rock climb, take dance lessons, or prepare for a marathon together! Whatever it is, do something that is enjoyable and something you can do together!

Portion Control

This one might be advice geared towards mostly the ladies, but I hope it helps the guys realize how they can help their lady love. When you go out to eat with your spouse, you don’t have to eat the same amount as them! My husband, for example, needs to eat almost double the amount of food that I do! There’s no reason for me to try and catch up with him when it comes to eating. Eat the amount of food you were meant to eat; no more, and no less!

Exercise Together 

Why exercise alone or separately when you can exercise together? I can only tell you how hard it is to get out of bed and wake up early in the morning to wake up and exercise…when your spouse is still cuddled up to the warm and cozy blankets snoozing away. Waking up is enough will power, but when you see what you could be doing, it can be hard to stay motivated at 5:30am (or whenever you have to wake up to go workout). Ask for your spouse to be a workout buddy – it will benefit both of you!

Speak up!

Is your loved one continuously bringing you treats that just aren’t helping you reach your goals? Speak your mind and let them know your goals, and how they can help you reach your goals – even if that means not bringing you certain treats that you used to love getting. Explain that treats are not a healthy “reward” system.

Express your need for encouragement, help, motivation, or any support that you feel that you need in order to be healthy.

If your loved one expresses any of the above mentioned concerns to you, be receptive and help where you can.

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Tags: Fitness, Health, Nutrition, relationship