Exercise for Heart Health

Engaging in regular exercise is the best way to support cardiovascular fitness and reduce the risk of a future heart attack or stroke. The problem is, only about 22 percent of Americans get the recommended amount of exercise each week. Living a sedentary lifestyle can increase the risk of high blood pressure by 30 to 50 percent and is a significant risk factor for all forms of cardiovascular disease.¹ In fact, inactivity is just as harmful to your cardiovascular system as smoking.² But adding exercise to your daily routine can reduce or even prevent these risk factors.

How Exercise Benefits Your Cardiovascular System

Regular exercise can have a huge impact on your overall cardiovascular health. It can help protect against that first heart attack or stroke, reduce the risk of having another cardiac event, and even help patients recover from coronary surgery. ¹ More specifically, exercise can:

• Reduce blood pressure
• Lower LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Increase HDL (good) cholesterol
• Improve circulation by increasing nitric oxide
• Help reduce plaque in arteries
• Lessen inflammation
• Prevent blood clots
• Foster a healthier weight ^3,4,5

Measuring Your Cardiovascular Fitness

One of the best ways to assess your cardiovascular fitness is by measuring VO₂max (volume-maximal-oxygen-consumption).⁶ Technically, VO₂max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that a person can utilize during intense exercise. To put it in simpler terms, VO2 max shows how well your heart pushes blood to your muscles and how efficiently your muscles can use  that oxygen to power your workout.

You can find out your VO2 max number by performing a cardiopulmonary exercise test at your doctor’s office or an exercise medicine lab. Typically, you’ll wear a mask over your face to record your oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production while running on a treadmill, riding a bike, or doing some other form of cardiovascular task. While that can give you an accurate reading, insurance likely won’t cover a VO2 max test. However, some fitness trackers can estimate your VO2 max to give you an idea of how fit you are.

The Best Types of Exercise for Your Heart

Being physically active is one of the best ways to improve your cardiovascular health and your VO2 max. In fact, regular exercise is one of the most effective ways to strengthen the heart muscle and improve your entire cardiovascular system. But what kind of exercise is best for your heart? Studies show that a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training is the most effective way to improve your overall cardiovascular health.^7,8

Aerobic exercise is defined as any exercise that increases your heart rate and your breathing rate while using your large muscle groups in a rhythmic and repetitive way. Examples of aerobic exercise include cycling, dancing, hiking, jogging, swimming, and walking. Often called “cardio,” aerobic exercise can help improve your heart health, burn fat, and increase your stamina and strength. It can also reduce your risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and heart disease.^9,10

Strength training, on the other hand, improves blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and body composition—and it’s especially beneficial for older adults. As a bonus, it also has a positive effect on non-traditional cardiovascular risk factors like cardiorespiratory fitness, endothelial function, and well-being.¹¹ Examples include working out with free weights, weight machines, resistance bands, or your own body weight (think push-ups, squats, and lunges).

Combining strength training with aerobic exercise may offer more benefit in reducing certain cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol, compared to resistance training or aerobic training alone. ⁸

How Much Exercise is Enough?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults should get a minimum of 150 minutes of aerobic exercise plus two non-consecutive days of strength training per week.¹² But new evidence published in the journal Circulation shows that doubling or even quadrupling the minimum amount the guidelines suggest confer even more health benefits. This study, which analyzed 116,221 adults, found that those who exercised two to four times more than the minimum recommendation lowered their risk of dying from any cause by 31 percent, up from just 21 percent for those meeting the minimum. And those who exercised more were also as much as 33 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared to 25 percent among those in the minimal exercise group.¹³

If getting even the minimal recommended amount of exercise feels daunting, take heart. Using an app to gamify your workouts, taking a group exercise class, or recruiting an exercise buddy can help you stay motivated. And don’t forget your everyday activities! Cleaning, gardening, washing the car, or chasing after the kids also count as exercise.

Stack These Heart Healthy Habits on Top of Your Workouts

Maximize the benefits of exercise with a few healthy lifestyle hacks. Indeed, the following changes are proven to boost heart health, especially when paired with regular workouts.

Level up your food choices. Research shows that a diet high in ultra-processed food, especially sugary drinks, and processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.¹⁴ Trade in these unhealthy foods for a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, whole grains, and healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil.¹⁵

Get a handle on stress. Exercise itself can help lower stress. Adding relaxation activities like meditation or yoga can help you chill out even more and that can have a beneficial effect on your cardiovascular system.¹⁶

Up your antioxidants. Science has confirmed that antioxidants lower oxidative stress during exercise and improve post-exercise recovery.¹⁷ This matters because oxidative stress can trigger inflammation, encourage the development of atherosclerosis, set the stage for high blood pressure, contribute to cardiac remodeling, and delay post-workout recovery. But not all antioxidants have the same heart healthy benefits. Emerging evidence suggests that antioxidant-rich Aged Garlic Extract (AGE) not only reduces oxidative stress, it also lowers blood pressure, and improves cholesterol, arterial stiffness, and aerobic fitness in middle-aged recreational athletes.^18,19 Other research suggests that supplementing with AGE can lessen fatigue and foster faster recovery after a workout.²⁰

Adding exercise to your daily routine is among the very best ways to maintain and improve  a healthy cardiovascular system. As a bonus, engaging in regular physical activity—whether in the gym, in nature, or around the house—can keep you strong, energized, and active for a lifetime.

1. Physical inactivity and cardiovascular disease. New York Department of Health. https://health.ny.gov/diseases/chronic/cvd.htm#:~:text=What%20are%20the%20consequences%20of,risk%20of%20recurrent%20cardiac%20events.
2. King, A. Health risks of physical inactivity similar to smoking. Nature Reviews Cardiology. 2012;9:492.
3. Myers J. Exercise and cardiovascular health. Circulation. 2003;107:e2-e5.
4. Nystoriak MA, Bhatnagar A. Cardiovascular effects and benefits of exercise. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2018;5:135.
5. Stanton KM, Liu H, Kienzle V, et al. The effects of exercise on plaque volume and composition in a mouse model of early and late life atherosclerosis. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2022;9:837371.
6. Scribbans TD, Vecsey S, Hankinson PB, et al. The effect of training intensity on VO₂max in young healthy adults: A meta-regression and meta-analysis. International Journal of Exercise Science. 2016;9(2):230-47.
7. Patel H, Alkhawam H, Madanieh R, et al. Aerobic vs anaerobic exercise training effects on the cardiovascular system. World Journal of Cardiology. 2017;9(2):134-138.
8. Lee D, Brellenthin AG, Lanningham-Foster LM, et al. Aerobic, resistance, or combined exercise training and cardiovascular risk profile in overweight or obese adults: the CardioRACE trial. European Heart Journal. 2024;45(130):1127–42.
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10. Ghozy S, Zayan AH, El-Qushayri AE, et al. Physical activity level and stroke risk in US population: A matched case-control study of 102,578 individuals. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. 2022;9(3):264-75.
11. Paluch AE, Bover WR, Franklin BA, et al. Resistance exercise training in individuals with and without cardiovascular disease: 2023 update: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2023;149(3):e217-e231.
12. Physical activity basics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/physical-activity-basics/guidelines/adults.html#:~:text=Adults%20need%20at%20least%20150,muscle%2Dstrengthening%20activity%20each%20week.
13. Lee DH, Leandro F.M. Rezende LFM, Joh HK, et al. Long-term leisure-time physical activity intensity and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A prospective cohort of US adults. Circulation. 2022;146(7):523-34.
14. Mendoza K, Smith-Warner S, Rossato SL, et al. Ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular disease: analysis of three large US prospective cohorts and a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. The Lancet Regional Health. 2024;37:100859.
15. Martinez-González MAM, Ga A, Ruiz-Canela. The Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular health: A critical review. Circulation Research. 2019;124(5):779-98.
16. Stress and heart health. American Heart Association. 2024. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/stress-and-heart-health#:~:text=Exercising%20regularly.,to%20try%20cooking%20or%20knitting.
17. Yavari A, Javadi M, Mirmiran P, et al. Exercise-induced oxidative stress and dietary antioxidants. Asian Journal of Sports Medicine. 2015;6(1):e24898.
18. Moosavian SP, Arab A, Paknahad Z, et al. The effects of garlic supplementation on oxidative stress markers: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2020;50:102385.
19. Gruenwald J, Bongartz U, Bothe G, et al. Effects of aged garlic extract on arterial elasticity in a placebo-controlled clinical trial using EndoPAT™ technology. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. 2020;19(2):1490-9.
20. Hwang KA, Hwang YJ, Hwang IG, et al. Effects of low temperature-aged garlic on exercise performance and fatigue in mice. Journal of Medicinal Food. 2019;22(9):944-51.

This article is for informational purposes only. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice.