Listen to Your Heart

Aerobic Exercise

We do regular workouts, like running, walking, and swimming, to get rid of those extra pounds and stay fit. All these are various forms of aerobic exercises that not only keep you fit, but also help you to have a healthy heart. Aerobic, literally means “in the presence of oxygen”. Aerobic exercises are set of activities that let you move large muscles in your arms, legs, and hips continuously. While exercising, you will take fast and deep breath, which increases oxygen level in blood. Your heart will beat faster, and increases blood flow to your lungs and muscles. Capillaries in your body will get widened to release more oxygen to body muscles, and also helps in the removal of carbon dioxide and other wastes.

Regular aerobic exercises are very beneficial.

• They help you burn extra calories to reduce body fat.

• They improve your stamina and reduce fatigue.

• Risk of chronic diseases, like heart diseases and diabetes, will considerably be reduced.

• Immune system is stimulated, which helps you ward off viral illnesses such as cold and flu.

• Aerobic exercises help you to relax, boost your mood, and fight signs of depression.

• They strengthen your muscles and help you stay active.

• Aerobic exercises like jogging will also stimulate bone growth.

In addition to all these uses, regular aerobic exercises reduce the risk of death due to cardiovascular problems. Your heart gets stronger if you make aerobics a practice. A strong heart pumps blood effectively, thus improving blood flow in all parts of the body. Aerobic exercises also increase the high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good cholesterol”, and decreases the low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad cholesterol”, which help to keep your arteries free from plaques.

Aerobics has everything to keep you fit and fine. It also keeps your heart healthy and helps to extend your life span. You can now track the effectiveness of your daily workout using heart rate monitors. You will be impressed to see what you get from your regular aerobic exercises.

If you are a competitive runner who is trying to break the current record, then the Polar RS 200 sd Heart Rate Monitor is your best choice. With a number useful features, this Polar heart rate monitor offers you all the professional help you need to reach your goal.

This user-friendly, Polar heart rate monitor gives an ECG accurate heart rate that helps you train at your preferred intensity. The Event Countdown Timer helps you manage your training until your next running event.

Other exercise features of the Polar RS 200 sd Running Computer are:

•  Polar OwnZone – Establishes your heart rate limit for a particular session.

•  Polar OwnCal – Shows the energy spent during an exercise session as well as kilocalories built up during exercise sessions.

•  Polar Fitness Test with OwnIndex – Based on your age, height, weight, heart rate, level of physical activity it predicts your maximum oxygen intake.

•  Polar OwnCode – This rare technology blocks unwanted signals from other heart rate monitors and prevents cross-talk.

Along with these standard features, a lot of new features have also been added to the Polar RS 200 sd Heart Rate Monitor. While ZoneLock makes it easy to set your target zone, ZonePointer helps you stick to your target zone. The Polar RS 200 heart rate monitor also comes with a S1 foot pod that gives accurate speed and distance data. With these features, runners out there will have all that they need.

The best thing about this Polar heart rate monitor, besides all these features, is the option to use it like a normal watch. It comes in a stunning red color, which adds to the style. With the right mix of style and technology the Polar RS 200 sd Heart Rate Monitor is the right pick, especially for runners.

To keep up with the hectic schedule in our day-to-day life, it is important to have a healthy heart and a fit body, which comes from maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Your heart rate is one of the most crucial indicators of your fitness level. Heart rate monitors help you follow your heart rate while doing various activities. This, in turn, lets you control the intensity of your activity. This is all the more important when you are trying hard to achieve certain fitness goals. There are a number of heart rate monitors available in the market today, but I strongly recommend the MIO Classic Select Petite Heart Rate Monitor Watch based on my personal experience.

The MIO 0005-1-US-CLS Heart Rate Watch motivates you to reach your health and fitness goals with its weight management system. It actually lets you set daily calorie targets and monitor calorie intake.

There are a number of other features that come with the MIO Classic Select Petite Heart Rate Monitor Watch. Besides being user-friendly, it gives out the accurate heart rate without you having to strap it to your chest. The MIO Classic Petite Lifestyle Watch can also be customized with personal data, such as age, weight, gender, and resting heart rate. It is also water resistant, which means you can wear it even while swimming.

You can even set the time, date, and alarm, and actually use it like a normal watch. This MIO 0005-1-US-CLS Ladies Watch has all the features a woman could ever ask for. As the name suggests, the MIO Classic Select Petite Lifestyle Watch comes with bands in petite length of 8.5 inches and is meant for wrists smaller than 6 Âľ inches. If you want, you can even choose a band color that would match your outfit.

With it being so reasonably priced, what more could you ask for?

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), otherwise known as peripheral vascular disease, is a common circulatory problem, which narrows the arteries and reduces the blood flow to your limbs. Most of us do not find any signs and symptoms of it, but some may find a number of them. A few of these symptoms, that even you may have experienced, are:

•  numbness or pain in the leg muscles
•  painful cramps in your hips, thighs, or calf muscles
•  change in the color of your legs
•  sores on your feet or legs that won’t heal

These heart diseases are caused by various reasons, the most common being atherosclerosis. In this case, fatty deposits (plaque) build up in your artery walls and reduce blood flow. Other less common causes are blood clots in arteries, injury to limbs, unusual anatomy of ligaments or muscles, or infection. They may be due to factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes. The risk for peripheral vascular disease increases with your age.

There are various tests to diagnose these heart diseases. These include physical examination by a doctor, ankle-brachial index (ABI), which is one of the most common tests used to diagnose PAD, ultrasound, angiography, and blood tests. The most important part that follows the diagnosis is the treatment. This starts at our end, with making lasting changes in the lifestyle, which lowers the blood pressure, reduces high cholesterol level, and brings down the blood sugar level. All these are done by maintaining a heart-healthy diet and getting some regular physical exercise. With all these changes in our lifestyle, you can manage the symptoms of PAD and also stop the progression of these heart diseases. By keeping an eye on your heart using various heart rate monitors that are available in the market, you can keep PAD and other heart-related problems at a safe distance.

Healthy Food

Heart diseases are becoming more common these days in humans, that too, at an early stage in life. An alarming number of deaths occur due to these heart diseases. In fact, heart diseases are the leading single cause of death globally. In the United States alone 1 in 2 women die of heart disease. The sad fact is that this number is on the rise.

This is due to a host of factors. High cholesterol levels, blood pressure, an unhealthy lifestyle and diet, physical inactivity, smoking, and increasing stress are a few of them. But, heart diseases are something that can be worked upon and you can take heart from that. The solution for preventing heart diseases is simple. The answer to how exactly we should take care of our heart is present right before us.

There are many heart healthy nutrients that can help reduce the risk of heart disease significantly. Fruits and vegetables, especially leafy ones, help maintain a normal blood pressure and lower blood cholesterol level. Whole grain cereals, beans, and peas also constitute a heart healthy diet. Beware of the hidden sugar in foods and avoid them! Garlic supplements have a history of preventing deaths due to heart diseases. Beverages also play a key role in protecting your heart.

In addition to the above, Vitamins B, A, C, and E are essential nutrition for the heart. Eating healthy food that is rich in fiber and low in fat is more likely to do the trick. You can come up with great menu ideas that include salmon, flaxseed, almonds, red wine, tuna, brown rice, etc. A well-balanced diet and regular exercise will surely guarantee a healthy and strong heart.