It can be hard enough getting the motivation to exercise, but that's only half the battle.
From HIIT to hot yoga, there are so many workouts to choose from—and it can get a bit overwhelming. Should you be doing cardio or strength training? How often should you exercise, and for how long?
While exercise is often considered in the context of weight loss and muscle tone, it is also essential for our cardiovascular health. So, what do cardiologists do to keep their hearts healthy? Newsweek spoke to Dr. Shaline Rao of NYU Langone Hospital to find out.
"I am not a natural athlete or exerciser," Rao, who is an expert in heart failure, told Newsweek. "I look at it as part of preventative health. I advise people on exercise and healthy nutrition, and I want to live by my own advice! It isn't easy or natural to me but I do feel I can sense the improvement in my strength."
So, what does an average week look like for Rao?
"I exercise three-four hours a week using a local gym class where 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training are included," she said. " I need the motivation of others and the energy of the coach to keep me engaged. I sometimes pick up a yoga class with family and I have a group of moms in my neighborhood who join me for brisk walks. I enjoy combining social time with exercise so I often try to include friends and family in my exercise routine."
While you don't need to be working out every single day, avoid cramming all your workouts in on the weekends.
"Exercise is good for you, the recommendation is 150 minutes a week, but there is an increased risk of injury when you exercise vigorously on the weekend but have no time to train spaced throughout the week," Rao said. "Any exercise has been shown to improve cardiovascular outcomes, but where possible, spreading out the time is better for building endurance.
"Weekend warriors still reap some benefit, but it helps if you start with a background level of fitness."
Ultimately, she says that a consistent routine is the best, whatever that means for you.
"Finding a mix of aerobic exercise, strength training, and stability/flexibility training provides the best mix for heart health and overall fitness," Rao said.
- Aerobic exercise: "30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week is a good target to try to achieve. Aerobic exercise includes activities that get your heart pumping like running, swimming, dance, rowing."
- Strength/resistance training: "A good rule of thumb for resistance training is to include this effort at least two non-consecutive days per week."
- Flexibility/stability: "Flexibility workouts, such as stretching, don't directly contribute to heart health. What they do is benefit musculoskeletal health, which enables you to stay flexible and free from joint pain, cramping and other muscular issues. That flexibility is a critical part of being able to maintain aerobic exercise and resistance training so including this before and after workouts to protect your ability to maintain exercise is important."
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