Maintaining a healthy lifestyle through exercise is extremely important to protect and improve cardiovascular health. However, not all exercises are suitable for people with heart disease, especially the elderly. That is why the following article will introduce 5 gentle but extremely effective exercises to help improve blood circulation and reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications, do not miss it.

Benefits of exercise for people with cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of unpredictable consequences, even death. This disease does not discriminate by age but is very common in the elderly due to weakened body functions.

When suffering from cardiovascular disease, many people often seek treatment but few pay attention to proper exercise. A seemingly unnecessary factor, but it can help improve cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of recurrence and improve the quality of life for patients thanks to benefits such as:

• Improve blood circulation: Through exercise, the body's tissues and organs receive enough oxygen and nutrients, thereby increasing effective blood circulation.

• Lower blood pressure: Gentle exercise, suitable for your physical condition, can help reduce blood pressure, which is very important for people with heart disease.

• Fat loss: Obesity and overweight are the causes of high blood pressure, diabetes, and a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Exercise can help with this.

• Improve cardiovascular health: Regular exercise helps the heart work more efficiently, helps the elderly eat well, sleep better, and effectively reduces stress, thereby reducing the risk of diseases such as coronary artery disease, heart failure, and stroke.

5 good exercises for people with cardiovascular disease that the elderly should not ignore

Walking, yoga, cycling are three of the gentle exercises that are very useful for people with cardiovascular disease. They are especially suitable for the elderly, when the body is no longer able to do high-intensity exercises.

Walk

This is a fairly simple exercise but it can reduce stress on the body, help improve endurance, increase blood circulation, and allow blood to flow better to the heart. At the same time, it reduces blood pressure, improves overall health. Thereby helping to improve the cardiovascular system better.

Therefore, start exercising by walking gently for about 10-15 minutes a day and gradually increase to about 30 minutes a day. For the elderly, there is no need to walk at a speed that is too fast, instead maintain a steady and comfortable pace.

Cycling 

This is also a great exercise for people with cardiovascular disease because cycling will help increase endurance, support weight control and blood circulation, reduce the risk of high blood pressure. Important factors in preventing and improving heart health without causing stress to the joints.

With cycling, patients can spend 20-30 minutes exercising every day. If using an exercise bike, adjust the resistance to suit your ability.

Swimming

During swimming, water will support the body, help reduce pressure on the heart, improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure. At the same time, support fat loss and increase muscle strength.

Therefore, this is also a solution to improve cardiovascular health without causing stress to the body that patients can apply.

For best results, swim 3-5 times a week, 20-30 minutes each time. If you are not a good swimmer, you can start with gentle swimming movements such as the breaststroke and swim at a slow speed.

Yoga

Yoga has long been known as an effective exercise to reduce stress and anxiety - this is an important factor for cardiovascular health. Moreover, gentle yoga movements, combined with breath control, will help improve muscles and blood circulation, thereby helping the body to relax completely and is extremely useful in preventing diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

Normally, Yoga will have many exercises, however, for the elderly, you should choose gentle, easy-to-do yoga exercises such as baby pose (Balasana), bridge pose (Setu Bandhasana), or downward-facing dog pose (Adho Mukha Svanasana). During the exercise, you should focus on deep breathing and regulating your breathing to maximize the effect of the exercise on cardiovascular health.

Aerobic exercise

When it comes to aerobics, many people will think that this is a strong exercise and suitable for young people. However, for the elderly, there are also many options for gentle aerobic exercises such as aerobics and dancing. These exercises not only help reduce stress effectively but also control excess fat, help increase blood circulation, thereby improving cardiovascular health effectively without causing excessive stress to the body.

For aerobic exercises, patients can practice at home or join a class. This will be a good way to practice for health and improve mood after each exercise. Remember to practice gently for about 20-30 minutes a day with simple exercises.

What should people with heart disease pay attention to when exercising?

To ensure safety during exercise, people with cardiovascular disease need to note the following:

• Before starting any exercise regimen, consult your doctor to ensure that the exercise is completely appropriate and does not pose any health risks.
• Warming up and stretching before and after exercise is very important to avoid exercise-related injuries.
• Listen to your body for symptoms of dizziness, fatigue, shortness of breath, etc. so you can consult your doctor and adjust your exercise regimen appropriately.
• It is necessary to maintain a regular exercise regimen and gradually increase the intensity, avoiding overtraining or sudden changes in intensity.
• For the elderly, they need to be monitored and supervised more closely. Therefore, they should seek professional care and nursing services such as Hio Care to be guided on the most suitable exercises for their physical condition, and closely monitor the signs to have timely prevention, protection and treatment.

In short, exercise is an important part of protecting and maintaining cardiovascular health. However, patients need to pay attention to choosing the gentle exercises mentioned above to achieve the best effect for your cardiovascular health.