Advertisement
Unlock the secret of your body’s hardest-working organ
Conventional wisdom suggests that if you want something to last longer, you should go easy on it. And most of the time, that’s sage advice. But not when it comes to your body’s hardest-working organ: your heart.
Advertisement
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
Each day, your heart beats, on average, 100,000 times, pumping your blood through a vast system of blood vessels that’s more than 60,000 miles long.
But making your heart work even harder — through moderate- to high-intensity physical activity on a consistent basis — can help lower your blood pressure and make your heart stronger, says cardiologist Leslie Cho, MD.
Your heart is a muscle. Just like your bicep, the more you work your heart, the bigger and stronger it gets.
During moderate- to high-intensity exercise, your muscles and tissues demand more nutrients and oxygen, which means that your heart must work harder and pump faster to meet those needs, says Dr. Cho.
Over time, your heart works more efficiently and can push out a greater volume of blood with every beat.
In addition, exercise also improves blood flow to your heart. It does this by improving the ability of your coronary blood vessels, which are the arteries that supply blood to your heart, to dilate.
Exercise also helps your other blood vessels’ ability to dilate, which, over time, lowers blood pressure.
“In general, the lower your blood pressure is, the better off you are,” Dr. Cho says. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart and blood vessel disease.
Consistent moderate physical activity has other benefits, too:
“As a secondary benefit, consistent exercise can help you lose weight, which means your heart doesn’t have to work as hard since there is less of you to pump blood to,” Dr. Cho says.
Dr. Cho shares these additional tips to help keep your blood pressure in check and keep your heart strong:
Advertisement
When you combine healthy habits like regular exercise, a balanced diet, the elimination of smoking and drinking and more, your heart will be able to pump at a strong rate.
Taking care of your heart is essential to preventing the development of other diseases like diabetes and lung-related illnesses, too. If you feel your heart isn’t pumping or beating the way it’s supposed to, contact your physician immediately.
Advertisement
Learn more about our editorial process.
Advertisement
Primal movement exercises are based on moves our ancestors used in daily life, like lunging, twisting and bending
Factors like temperature, energy levels and sleep quality play a role in determining whether working out in the morning or evening is best for you
It’s not the only exercise you should do, but this gentle way to get active can help you get out of a workout slump
Stretch before and after your workouts for maximum benefits, but your pre-workout stretches should be different from your post-workout stretches
This low-impact, full-body workout builds strength and stamina while reducing stress
Exercising can actually improve arthritis symptoms — and low-impact exercises are best
Bulgarian split squats, hack squats and goblet squats are just a few of the moves you can try
Obesity, age and preexisting heart conditions can all raise your risk of cardiovascular disease during pregnancy
Focus on your body’s metabolic set point by eating healthy foods, making exercise a part of your routine and reducing stress
PFAS chemicals may make life easier — but they aren’t always so easy on the human body
While there’s little risk in trying this hair care treatment, there isn’t much science to back up the claims