One way to bring attention to things we take for granted, like heart health, is making them a point of focus.
Because we don’t see or feel our heart working we tend to take the health of our heart for granted so February is designated Heart Health month.
February is an interesting choice for a focus on the heart. Since Valentine’s Day comes in February we already have a romantic or relationship focus on the heart.
Historically the heart has gotten a lot of attention as the location of emotion, the soul, and the spark of life. This has a scientific basis too since the heart pumps blood throughout the body to keep all parts of the body functioning. When the hearts stops life stops.
The heart is a muscle and heart health is built over time choice by choice.
Maintaining a healthy heart involves lifestyle choices including balanced nutrition, exercise, rest, and emotions (or stress).
The first step to keeping a muscle healthy is getting the right nutrition. A balance of protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats provides the variety of fuel and nutrients your heart needs to function correctly.
The second step to heart health is exercise. Cardiovascular exercise gets the heart muscle pumping. 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day is recommended to build and maintain a strong heart muscle.
Cardiovascular exercise includes walking, jogging, swimming, and anything else that increases your heart rate. Your daily 30 minutes can be completed all at once or broken into two 15 minute segments.
The third step to heart health is rest. Muscles rebuild and heal themselves when at rest so resting your heart is critical too. Most adults need 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.
The final step to maintaining a healthy heart is to manage stress. A certain amount of stress is positive – challenges keep us moving forward. Stress becomes a negative when you are unable to relax.
Incorporate activities and time spent with people you enjoy into your routine and maintain a focus on the positive things around you to keep your stress level low.
Because your heart muscle is something you cannot see regular checkups are also key to ensure you are keeping your heart healthy. A routine physical is a great way to ensure that what you are doing is working or if it needs to be tweaked.
Take advantage of Heart Health month to check in on your routine and establish some new habits to ensure your heart keeps you running strong.
