The heart is muscle and a very important one at that. It is needed to provide oxygen to our brain, lungs and all other structures in our bodies. Everyone knows that exercise leads to a healthy heart but do you know why?
Exercise acts as a form of stress on the heart, but good stress. When we exercise, our heart must work harder to provide the oxygen needed by the rest of the body to perform the activities that are being asked of it. When we stress our heart through exercise, the muscle becomes stronger which allows it to pump a greater amount of blood to the body with each beat. This means that our heart has to pump less frequently to supply our body with the oxygen it needs to perform physical activities.
This change can be sensed throughout our journey of exercise as we become more adept to your exercise program. As we become more fit, we notice a change in our ability to exercise. All of a sudden, the speed we run doesn’t seem so fast, the distance goes by faster than it did the week before and our heart rate doesn’t increase to the same rate. These are some of the physiological changes we experience thanks to exercising. This is the result of adaptations the heart has made as it has strengthened and become more efficient through exercise.
A strong and efficient heart leads to less fatigue when we perform activities, lower blood pressure and a healthier heart!