Heart Health

Your heart is pounding away, well why wouldn’t it be?, you just finished doing a set of heavy squats. And you think to yourself, this has to be good for my heart and lungs, and it is! You’ve just finished running a 5k, and your heart is pounding, and you think to yourself, this has to be good for my heart and lungs, and it is!. Both these types of training place stresses on the heart, but each are very different. Weight training causes a pressure load on the heart, which means that the heart must pump harder against pressure to overcome the resistance provided by intense muscle contractions. Aerobic training causes a volume load on the heart. Rhythmical exercise such as running increases the amount of blood returning to the heart, which stretches the heart walls and expands their volume. Your heart responds differently to pressure and volume loads. Systolic blood pressure (higher number) can exceed 400 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) during heavy squats (120 mmHg is normal during resting blood pressure) This overload will cause hypertrophy (strengthening and increased thickness) of the left ventricle of the heart. This strengthening of the left ventricle is a good thing! This part of your heart pumps blood into general circulation. Aerobics cause increases in the chamber size of the left and right ventricle (right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs) This is also a good thing since more blood can be used during exercise. In summation, you need to do both types of exercise to get maximum results from your training and to keep your heart healthy. Oh, and one more thing you should know, when you stop training all the great things you did for your heart start to reverse. So keep pumping away guys, I want to see you here for another 10 years at least. Robert J. Caltabiano, IFBB Pro Roberts One on One Fitness Studio 17 Ravine Road Malvern, PA 19355 610.296.8505 www.robertsoneonone.com This is where fit happens