What happens to the heart during sports

Sports have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and are recommended to all people. During exercise, a person’s heart rate increases. This occurs due to the fact that muscle tissue requires more oxygen and additional substances for its active activity. Accordingly, this is done in the body by increasing heart contractions.

During physical activity, a small amount of adrenaline is released in the body. In combination with other components, this helps strengthen the vascular wall and increase the tone of the cardiovascular system. The hormonal component, combined with the active movement of blood through the vessels, as well as the energetic work of the heart, provides a good workout for the human body, and our heart is better prepared for stressful situations.

How to determine where the line between benefit and harm is in sports hobbies?

Excessive physical activity is not good for the body and the cardiovascular system. Most professional athletes who retire between the ages of 30 and 40 may later develop serious heart and vascular problems. For example:

– arterial hypertension;

– myocardial hypertrophy;

– heart failure.

An adult must decide for himself how and how much to exercise. Doctors recommend that all people undergo regular medical examinations after 35-40 years of age. If, based on the results of a cardiac ultrasound, the doctor sees a slowdown in heart rate or the formation of left ventricular myocardial hypertrophy, then in this case the person will receive recommendations to stop or reduce the intensity of physical activity.

Many people like to change their usual lifestyle and start a new life – they make plans, radically change the vector of development, and develop new habits. We found out from an expert which ones are good for taking care of your heart.

When talking about health problems, people rarely think about how much their own lifestyle affects the body. A meta-analysis of 15 studies involving 531,804 people with an average follow-up of 13 years shows that a combination of four healthy lifestyle factors reduces the risk of death by 66%. What habits are necessary to keep your heart healthy for many years? If you need extra money to check up on your health – try https://tonybet.lv/en.

Habit 1. Regular physical activity

The first thing you should do is get into the habit of exercising regularly. This can be moderate exercise (for example, brisk walking at a speed of about 5 km/h, cycling at a speed of less than 16 km/h, water aerobics) from two and a half hours a week with a gradual increase to five hours. For those with less free time, experts recommend 75 minutes to two and a half hours of intense aerobic activity per week, such as running, swimming, or cycling at a speed of more than 10 mph, as an alternative. Moderate and intense physical activity can also be combined. In this case, it is more correct to distribute training evenly throughout the week.

Don’t forget about strengthening your muscles: this could be, for example, lifting weights, push-ups, pull-ups, exercises with an expander, indoor rock climbing, or tug-of-war. You should perform such exercises at least twice a week.

Habit 2. Controlling body weight and waist circumference

By periodically weighing yourself, you can quickly identify an important cardiovascular risk factor – an increased body mass index (BMI). The second such factor is increased waist circumference.

BMI can be calculated using a calculator. Normal BMI is 20-25, and waist circumference is less than 94 cm in men and less than 80 cm in women.

Habit 3. Life without smoking

Smoking is responsible for 10% of all deaths from cardiovascular causes. On average, this habit shortens life by ten years.

The degree of nicotine dependence can be assessed using the Fagerström test. Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor for help in quitting smoking; severe addiction may require medication therapy.

Habit 4. Healthy eating

Don’t add salt to your food. Daily salt intake should not exceed 5 g (level teaspoon), including table salt added during cooking and that already contained in prepared foods. At first, after giving up salt, food may seem unusual, but soon you will be able to enjoy the true taste of the food.

Eat more fruits and vegetables: at least 400g or five servings of fruit and at least 400g of cooked or fresh vegetables per day. One serving is one large fruit (for example, an apple or orange) or two small ones (for example, plums or kiwi). This healthy habit will allow you to get the required amount of dietary fiber – at least 30 g per day. Dietary fiber is found in large quantities in fruits (pears, apples, oranges, peaches), berries (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries), vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, green beans) and legumes (peas, lentils, beans).

Give preference to fish and poultry without skin and lean red meat without layers of fat. Fish should be included in the menu once or twice a week, and on one of the days – fatty fish (mackerel, sardines, salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut).

Limit saturated fatty acids (such as vegetable oil) to no more than 10% of your total caloric intake. Doctors do not recommend consuming more than 1 teaspoon of olive oil per day. To prevent atherosclerosis, choose only soft margarine, produced in tubes (margarine spread) and plastic boxes, with a low content of saturated fat and trans fatty acid isomers (less than 1%). The habit of eating 30 g of unsalted nuts per day (except peanuts, which are actually legumes) is also useful.

Habit 5. Limiting alcohol consumption

To maintain heart health and beyond, doctors recommend limiting alcohol consumption. So, the maximum daily amount is slightly less than two small glasses of wine (each about 100 ml), two bottles of beer (each about 0.33 l), or two glasses of vodka (30 ml each) for men and half as much for women. If you cannot limit yourself to this amount, it is better to refrain from drinking alcohol.

Habit 6. Regular preventive examinations

It is especially important to see a doctor for those who have a family history of early development of cardiovascular disease, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), as well as other risk factors: smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, or elevated levels of “bad” cholesterol. If the risk is close to the threshold, that is, such that treatment may be required, a cardiovascular examination should be carried out every five years. Men under 40 and women under 50 without cardiovascular risk factors may not think about regular checkups.

Cardiovascular diseases in most cases develop asymptomatically, and the first manifestation can be disastrous. Therefore, the future lies in preventive medicine. If we regularly monitor certain indicators, then certain disorders can be identified long before the first symptoms appear.

Often it is enough to simply adjust your lifestyle to avoid serious problems and surgical or therapeutic intervention in the future.

How lifestyle affects the heart

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide. This fact alone should be enough to make you think about the health of your circulatory system.

But this is not so scary: awareness of possible risks is the first step towards preventive treatment of serious diseases. There are a set of factors that most strongly influence the development of cardiovascular diseases, and you need to monitor them more closely.