“Above all else, guard your heart,
For it is the wellspring of life.”
-Proverbs 4:23
Getting your heart pumping with movement strengthens cardiac muscle, improves circulation, reduces pain and stiff joints, burns calories, and reduces risk of disease .
How do you gauge the intensity to make sure you’re exercising enough, without overdoing it? The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. Moderate activity feels somewhat difficult and causes your breath to quicken, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation. In this “conversational” pace, also known as Zone 2 exercise, you’ll break a light sweat after about five to ten minutes of such activity. Zone 2 exercise will lead you steadily towards optimal heart health.
We’ve all learned that “slow and steady wins the race” but to optimize health span it’s important to “tune up” our bodies with more intense bursts of training in addition to the moderate steady state cardio. Unfortunately, most people over 30 don’t sprint or perform high intense vigorous activity. Our bodies have been evolutionarily adapted for moderate amounts of high intensity activity in addition to high amounts of low intensity activity. Mix in sprints, plyometrics, or rucking hills to truly “HIIT your peak”.
With so much emphasis on elevating heart rate, it’s easy to overlook the importance of slowing heart rate which is equally important. The wandering nerve will help you find heart health. The vagus nerve, the key player in regulating heart rate: deep and slow diaphragmatic breathing, meditation, humming, massage, and floating.
Healthy Vagus nerves keep stress and inflammation low and reduce risk of developing cardiovascular disease. To be calm with a healthy heart is the highest achievement of wellness!