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Heart Health: How Much Should You Exercise?
As little as 15 minutes of exercise helps. Today we look at how much you should do to optimize your heart health.
“If I’d known I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” So opined Eubie Blake, a pianist, and composer of jazz and ragtime, who lived from 1887 to 1983.
You know that exercise is right for you. Even minimal physical activity can advance your health and sense of well-being. I am a strong advocate of incorporating walking into a physical activity program, but a thoughtful reader recently led me to think about how much aerobic activity we need to do to optimize cardiovascular health.
Today we begin with a review of some optimal lab numbers before turning to physical activity benefits, from walking to running. More specifically, I will focus on optimal levels of exercise for a healthy heart.
So, you want to get your heart in tip-top shape. You may immediately think about physical activity, the subject of our discussion today. First, here are some other keys to good heart health.
The numbers
Let’s start with some numbers, including the big three:
- Blood pressure. The normal…
