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Sunday 22 April 2012

De-risk Your Chance of a Heart Attack


De-risking the incidence of a heart attack is a subject close to my heart, pardon the pun. Both my father and father in law had major heart attacks in their 50s. Several years later they both had major heart surgery. One thing they both had in common was lack of a regular exercise routine.

It's the blood flow through the coronary arteries that is a key factor in deciding whether you’re at risk of a heart attack. Cardio exercises can help ease the flow of blood through the coronary arteries, and literally save your life. The graphic below shows what a difference a few minutes of exercise can make towards reducing the risk of a heart attack.

The experiences of both my father and father-in-law should drive me to beat the uphill struggle to stay or become fit. Here's some really easy activities to help lower the risk of heart attack. I do 1 and 4, as they’re part of my daily routine.

1) Running is one of the easiest and best exercise activities you can do. When running you can burn 300 calories in 30 minutes and it doesn't require any special equipment except comfortable running shoes.

2) Walking is something that fits into most people's lifestyle.

3) Swimming is ideal for a full body exercise and cardio fitness. Spend 30 minutes swimming to burn 400 calories. There’s also the advantage that swimming doesn’t involve impacting the joints, as running, and to some extent walking does.

4) Cycling builds strength and agility. Depending on how fast you go, you can burn 250-500 calories in 30 minutes.

I cycle to the train station a 4.5 mile journey, say 2-3 times a week and walk 10 miles per week from the train station to my office in London. I should do more. The cycling and the walking, if I’m honest is to save money because the bus journeys are too expensive.

Who knows, the increasing cost of living could help us overcome our struggle to stay or become fit.

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