The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada estimates that 80 percent of premature heart disease and strokes can be prevented with behaviours such as eating healthy, being active and living smoke-free.

Being active can help you stop, slow down or reverse heart disease, and you don’t need to be an elite athlete to do it. Even moderate exercise 150 minutes a week or vigorous exercise 75 minutes a week has heart health benefits. This can be 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. Don’t have 30 minutes to spare? Try breaking your exercise into two or three segments of 10 to 15 minutes.

How does exercise affect your heart?
Your heart is a muscle and like any other muscle in your body, it gets stronger when you work out. Just as exercise strengthens other muscles in your body, it helps your heart muscle become more efficient and better able to pump blood throughout your body. This means that the heart pushes out more blood with each beat, allowing it to beat slower and keep your blood pressure under control.

When you exercise regularly the chambers of your heart expand better, allowing them to fill with more blood. Your heart pumps more efficiently, more powerfully and more blood is pumped to your muscles.

Moderate activity gets your heart beating faster, makes you break a sweat and breathe harder — you should be able to talk but not sing. Moderate aerobic movement includes activities such as:

Vigorous activity is something that makes you breathe harder or puff and pant. It includes activities such as:

Just getting started? Go slow and work your way up gradually. Try incorporating physical activity into your everyday life. Park further away from work or take a walk at lunch. It’s important to pick activities that you enjoy so you will be more likely to stick with them.

NOTE: Always check with your healthcare provider before beginning any physical activity program.

If you'd like to learn more about The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and cardiovascular health click here.