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While in the hospital physical therapy is
started as quickly as possible. However, after the patient goes home he or she
is on their own and usually quits exercising. The body was designed to function
at it's best with exercise. Hearth health is helped considerably by the right
kind of exercise especially after major circulation or heart surgery.
A just published study in the September
2008 issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise it has been found that
more exercise is better and the right kind is better yet. The study was between
three control groups. The first group did five days of walking or running as
their exercise. Group two did only three days of walking or running but on the
other two days performed resistance exercise one set per routine. And the
third group did the same as group two but added two additional sets to each
resistance routine.
I am sure by now you can guess which of
the groups scored best. If you choose group three you are correct. At the end of
29 weeks both resistance training groups were much stronger, had more lean mass,
less body fat and had more muscle endurance. But group three was better in all
categories than group two. Since group three was doing three times more that
would be an expected performance.
However it has always been thought that
aerobic exercise was the way to oxygenate the body and increase overall heart
health. Recent information confirmed by this study shows that increased muscle
mass produces increased oxidative capacity and energy storage. This has shown
that with increased muscle mass and increased overall body conditioning, a
vigorous walk or run produces less stress and more oxidation to the body. A body
that is not in this condition produces more stress, more chance for injury. The
bottom line, especially for people with circulatory and heart risk is that a
balanced program of aerobics and resistance is by far the best for over all
optimal heart health |
