Don’t stiff your heart

Keep it flexible with exercise

As you grow older, you may find that if you don’t stay active, your body becomes stiffer and less flexible. Although you may not feel it, your heart, too, stiffens up. And, like your body, your heart won’t function well if it’s not flexible. In fact, a stiff heart can put you at risk for heart failure.

What’s going on?
Years ago, doctors thought a stiffening heart muscle was inevitable as you aged. Now they know your heart is designed to remain strong and reliable for a long time. Studies show that getting older hurts your heart only if you don’t exercise. Regardless of your age, a well-conditioned heart pumps the same amount of blood in 50 beats that an inactive person’s heart pumps in 75 beats. But with a sedentary lifestyle, your body’s muscles, including your heart, become rigid as you age. An inflexible heart causes a decrease in function, leading to a common form of heart failure.

Unfortunately, you can’t see your heart stiffening. You can’t visit your doctor and have your heart’s elasticity tested either. But if you’re not getting regular physical activity, your heart can be 50 percent stiffer than an active person’s heart is.

Getting the exercise your heart needs
According to a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, steady, moderate levels of exercise, or endurance training, help keep your heart flexible and functioning properly. Why endurance training? Endurance training raises your heart rate and keeps it up for an extended period of time.

The endurance training used in the study included at least 30 minutes of jogging or cycling no less than three times a week. (Working in the garden or cleaning the house didn’t count as exercise.) After a year of regular workouts, healthy but previously inactive adults (average age: 68) in the study enjoyed dramatic improvements in heart health, including more muscular, more flexible and better functioning hearts.  

More heart-healthy reasons to exercise
Adults who maintain a regular exercise program do more than keep their hearts flexible. Regular exercise controls heart disease risk factors by:
reducing the risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure
improving blood sugar tolerance in people with diabetes
lowering high blood pressure
improving cholesterol and triglyceride levels
helping smokers quit
controlling weight and reducing body fat
relieving stress and depression
increasing your energy by increasing endurance

If you’ve been inactive, are very overweight or have heart disease or another medical condition, talk to your doctor before you start an exercise program.