Sport trains the heart and prevents heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases. We are naming you the healthiest sports for the heart.
The 6 Healthiest Sports For The Heart
To Swim
For most people, swimming is probably one of the healthiest forms of sport, because there are no risky peak loads and the joints are protected. Because the heart and circulation have to work against the water pressure on the body, they are also trained and strengthened. Tip: Pay attention to a clean technique to save energy, and swim in cooler water, but a little less far – that also promotes circulation.
Running
Running is one of the more heart-intensive sports. That’s why: It doesn’t always have to be a marathon in record time! Who says that you have to perform at all costs on the running track as well as you do at work? In my consultation hours, I always recommend walking in a more relaxed manner and activating all your senses, rather than forcing yourself into a risk area.
Squash
When playing with an opponent, the risk of overexerting yourself is generally higher. You want to win and it’s difficult to admit that you’re losing strength. If you need more breaks than a rally is long, then it might be time to switch sports. Or to work on the condition. Tip: If you do a particularly intense sport like squash, you need something relaxing to balance it out.
Rowing
Rowing is good for for strengthening the cardiovascular system and expanding lung capacity. Tip: Maintain clean technique to avoid wrist or lower back problems. By the way: Rowing is the only sport in which you cross the finish line backwards. You can only focus on what you have already achieved and not on what lies ahead. It’s not easy mentally.
Yoga
Yoga is a philosophical teaching that encompasses a series of physical and mental exercises. For example, special breathing techniques are trained as part of a meditation. All exercises serve to become one with the consciousness. The heart benefits twice from the ‘relaxed movement’. By the way: Breathing is central to every sport – that’s why yoga would be recommended at the beginning and end of every sport.
Qigong/Tai Chi
Far Eastern traditions and health exercises through to martial arts such as Qigong and Tai Chi are ideal for relaxation and balance. It is about the harmonization and regulation of the inner body flow. The slow movements train the heart and circulation particularly gently. Here, too, you will learn how to breathe correctly and how to influence the heart rate. You can test this with a self-experiment: If you hold your breath, your pulse will get faster.
