“It lets you love, laugh and live your life to the full. A few simple changes is all it takes to keep it charged and make a lasting difference to your heart health. So fuel your heart and power your life”-A message from the World Heart Day Website.
Heart Disease is Irelands Number 1 Killer. According to The Irish Heart Foundation Approximately 10,000 people die each year from Cardiovascular Disease, including coronary heart disease and stroke.
Your heart is a muscle and the more you make a muscle work the stronger and healthier it will become. Becoming more active is easy and inexpensive, you can make it part of your daily routine. Prevention is better than cure and in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease below are some ideas on how you can introduce exercise into your life whatever your age or fitness level!
Housework: Why not introduce some exercise into your daily house-keeping routine.
- Squatting when unloading the dishwasher
- Lunging while vacuuming
- Engaging your core muscles when you dust surfaces or clean windows
Gardening: do some exercise and give your garden a makeover at the same time by:
- Planting
- Digging
- Weeding
- Raking
Just remember to maintain good posture and engage your core and you have yourself a work-out!
At Work: if you find yourself working in an office or at a desk the long periods of sitting tend to stiffen up our joints.
- Walking to the photocopier, paper shredder or water fountain regularly
- Stretching can be done while sitting at your desk. Try completing neck and arm stretches while on a call.
Watching Television: Make watching television more active by:
- Leaving the remote control beside the television and standing up to change the channel or the volume
- Complete Squats before sitting back into your chair, do 10 every time you want to stand up or sit down
- Walk around while the add breaks are on
If you are already quiet active and would like to increase the amount of exercise you do why not consider:
- Walking in your local area with a group
- Dancing – there are many dance classes available, Line Dancing, Jiving & Zumba.
- Swimming/ Aqua Aerobics – if you suffer from arthritis or joint stiffness, exercise in the water would be beneficial as it is considered low impact.