Preparing the heart before going back to the Gym
After having worked from home for a long time, many people likely gain weight and have a high blood cholesterol level, and their bodies are not as fit as before. Doing anything becomes more tiring, and previously firm muscles are probably smaller a little from just sitting around and not going to the gym or exercising like they used to. Now that the situation is resolving and gyms and public parks are open again for runs and exercises, many people are probably preparing their equipment to start exercising again. However, one other important thing that they should not overlook is to check their heart before starting again. Today, we offer you some useful knowledge about exercising for good health and good heart health, presented by Dr. Phitsanu Sunthonpiyaphan, Medical Specialist in Cardiac Rehabilitation from the Heart Center of Phyathai 2 Hospital.
Some Advice before Exercising after a Long Break due to Severe Covid Outbreaks
You always have to warm up your body first. That is, if the muscles and joints of your body have not been exercised for a long time, you have to stretch your muscles and warm up your body, so that blood properly circulates to these parts to prepare you and your heart for the workout. Only after a warm-up should you start to exercise the way you would like.
Regardless of how you exercise, we also want you to start with exercises such as by switching to running after walking and then alternating it with jogging, or, if you lift weights, to begin training from the lightest weights before gradually increasing the weight each week by 50%, 75% and 100% from what you lift in each preceding week.
After exercising, you also should not suddenly stop. This is because after your body has completed a heavy exercise, your heart will still be pumping a lot of blood. If you suddenly stop, it will be like suddenly turning off a faucet. It might cause insufficient blood supply to the brain, so you might black out or faint. The correct way is to cool down by gradually slowing down and then stretching your muscles to relax. This also helps eliminate lactic acid from the muscles and reduces soreness.
Exercise and Heart Health
Exercise is directly correlated with heart (health), and doctors recommend observing your own heart by using the techniques below in both daily life and while exercising.
If you are much more easily fatigued by activities that you used to be able to do easily, such as by becoming easily tired when going up the stairs or overpass even though you never felt tired when doing this before, it means you already have something wrong with your heart. You might feel pain or chest congestion. The pain will feel like there is some sort of pressure, something stepping on the left side of your chest. You could also sweat, have palpitations, feel lightheaded, etc.
All of these symptoms can happen to people who already have a preexisting heart condition, such as a disease of the aorta or heart valve, or pulmonary edema, or even heart failure. Furthermore, they can occur in people with risk of developing heart disease, such as people with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and obesity as well as heavy smokers and people who have family history of heart disease. These people are more at risk of developing heart disease than ordinary people.
Therefore, whenever you start exercising again after having stopped for a long time, don’t forget to warm up and cool down properly, and don’t forget to evaluate your heart health to prepare yourself. You can possibly evaluate yourself by following the above guidelines, or, if you belong to the risk group and want to have confidence about your results, you can receive a heart check-up performed by a professional doctor at Phyathai 2 Heart Center, so you can prepare your heart before confidently enjoying your healthy exercises.
You may find our specialist here at Heart Center
Phyathai 2 Hospital
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Tel: +66-2617-2444 ext. 2020 or 2047 E mail: onestop@phyathai.com
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