heart disease prevention — Dr. Laughlin Blog — Primary Care Physician in Tulsa, OK

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Exercise is key to good heart health. It reduces your risk of dying from heart disease or having a non-fatal heart attack or stroke, and it lowers your chances of needing procedures like heart bypass.

Regular exercise also lowers your blood pressure, and it can boost levels of your good cholesterol.

But if you’re sitting too much and not exercising enough, your risk for heart disease sky rockets.

Adults who sit for long periods of time have 1.5 times greater risk for heart attack or stroke and a 90 percent greater chance of death from heart disease. But here’s the good news:

Every little bit — from gardening to yoga to walking to running to lifting weights — helps lower your risk for heart attack and stroke. The more you challenge yourself (within reason), the more it can help your heart.

In this exercise guide blog series, we’ll take you through three exercise types that can help you protect your heart:

• Endurance, the kind that gets your heart pumping;

• Strength, the kind that builds and maintains muscles; and

• Flexibility and balance, the kind that helps with range of motion and injury prevention.

Before starting any exercise program, talk to your MDVIP-affiliated physician. Then use this guide along with the heart-healthy exercise programs available on MDVIP Connect to get moving and keep moving.

Exercise is key to lowering your risk of heart disease so you can Be Strong-Hearted.