Stick to this exercise for 6 months and your heart will see positive changes! It’s not running, it’s not walking

Running, walking, cycling… these activities are the first choice for many people’s daily exercise. However, in addition to these common aerobic exercises, there is another type of exercise that is often overlooked in daily life, that is resistance exercise (strength training).

A recent study found that the most beneficial exercise for the heart in some aspects is not running or walking, but resistance exercise! The study shows that if you persist in resistance exercise for 6 months, your heart function will improve to a certain extent.

After 6 months of resistance exercise, there are significant changes in the heart!

As we age, heart function gradually declines and the risk of cardiovascular disease increases. A study published in the journal Gerontology in 2024 revealed that resistance training can not only enhance muscle strength, but also significantly improve the heart morphology and function of elderly women.The study recruited 82 elderly women and randomly divided them into two groups, one of which underwent 24 weeks of exercise training under the supervision of professionals. Specifically, the content of resistance training three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) is:

Trunk and upper limb training: chest press, seated rowing, triceps press, incline curl;

Lower limb training: lying leg raise, seated leg extension, prone leg curl, seated weighted heel raise.

After 24 weeks of resistance training, functional echocardiography was used to detect and found that resistance training significantly improved the heart morphology and function of elderly women. In other words, proper resistance exercise helps you have a strong heart!

Persistent exercise can be said to be a kind of protection for the heart. A study on “The Benefits of Exercise for Cardiovascular Disease” published in the European Heart Journal in 2023 mentioned that those who have exercise habits before myocardial infarction have a smaller infarction area and better heart function after myocardial infarction; exercise rehabilitation after myocardial infarction helps to induce reduced left ventricular remodeling and prevent the decline of left heart function.

Increase resistance exercise after 40 years old

Positive impact on cardiovascular health

In addition to helping improve heart morphology and function, appropriate resistance exercise also has the following benefits for cardiovascular health. It is worth mentioning that resistance exercise often brings greater benefits to the elderly and people with elevated cardiometabolic risk factors.

1. Improve blood pressure

In 2023, the American Heart Association published a 2023 edition of the scientific statement on resistance exercise in the journal Circulation:

In young healthy adults (≤40 years old), resistance exercise can cause a small but significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure (by 1 mmHg);

For middle-aged and elderly healthy adults (>40 years old), resistance exercise can bring a greater decrease in their systolic blood pressure (by 4 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (by 2 mmHg).

2. Improve blood lipids

Both aerobic exercise, resistance exercise, and daily physical activity can have a positive effect on the blood lipid profile. For patients with hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia, aerobic exercise alone may not be enough to achieve the best results. It is recommended to combine resistance exercise with aerobic exercise. Resistance exercise not only helps control cholesterol levels, but also improves fatigue, relieves depression, and increases bone density.

Resistance exercise twice a week can help prevent cardiovascular disease.

It is recommended to combine resistance exercise and aerobic exercise. Resistance training ≥ 2 times a week can effectively achieve muscle and cardiovascular benefits.
In an interview, Qiu Junqiang, a professor at the School of Sports and Human Sciences at Beijing Sport University, said that people don’t have to think of strength training as difficult. Many exercises can be done at home. For example, squats, step exercises or sit-ups can exercise the leg and buttocks muscles; wall push-ups can exercise the chest and upper limbs; heel raises can exercise the legs; in addition, elastic bands can also be used to do bow and arrow stretches and shoulder strap stretches to exercise the back and upper limbs.

1. Bodyweight training

Use your body weight to do exercises, such as sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, frog jumps, squats, etc. You can do it at home or in the gym to exercise your core strength and muscle strength.

Plank training.

2. Elastic band and equipment training

You can use dumbbells, sandbags, elastic bands, etc. to increase external resistance. You can do it at home or in the gym. For the first time, you can be guided by a professional coach to ensure the correct posture and safety.

3. Stair climbing exercise

Climbing stairs is a low-cost, convenient way of exercise that has both aerobic and resistance properties. It can not only improve cardiopulmonary function, but also enhance the muscle strength of the hips and legs. In 2023, researchers from Peking University published a study in the journal Atherosclerosis, which found that compared with people who do not climb stairs, people who climb stairs more than 5 times a day (10 steps at a time) have a 20% lower risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Pay attention to these two points when doing resistance exercise：

People with special diseases should follow the doctor’s advice when exercising; for ordinary people, when doing resistance exercise, they should:

1. Maintain natural breathing

Maintain natural breathing during resistance exercise, pay special attention to avoid holding your breath to avoid hypoxia or excessive blood pressure fluctuations, and provide appropriate protection when necessary.

You should pay attention to your physical condition and suspend exercise during acute illness, such as severe colds, fever, severe diarrhea, etc.; if you experience chest pain, chest tightness, dizziness, palpitations, abnormal breathing difficulties or fatigue, obvious pain in joints and muscles, etc. during exercise, you should immediately reduce the intensity of exercise or stop exercising, take corresponding measures, and seek medical attention if necessary.

2. Try to exercise each muscle group

Professor Qiu Junqiang reminded that strength training mainly targets the main large muscle groups of the body, such as the upper back, chest, shoulders, upper limbs (biceps and triceps), lower limbs (hamstrings and quadriceps) and calf muscles. Choose one or more exercises for each muscle group and learn to perform appropriate exercises in the correct form and manner. Make sure you can control the speed of the exercise. Exercise each muscle group at least twice a week, with at least two days in between.

Major muscle groups and sample exercises. Image from A Scientific Statement From the American Heart