For heart patients, some could argue that cardiovascular aerobic exercise gets all the attention. After all, most of us understand the value of vigorous exercise to get your heart pumping, lowering blood pressure, improving cholesterol and blood sugar regulation.

Yet, the value of resistance training – also known as strength training – shouldn’t be underestimated for patients managing heart disease and its many risk factors. In fact, the American Heart Association recommends moderate to high-intensity muscle strengthening exercise at least twice per week, and there are dozens of studies that demonstrate the many cardiovascular benefits of improving muscle strength. As you age, it’s also a great way to keep your body strong enough to maintain independence and perform the regular activities of daily life – which can lead to an improved quality of life in the golden years.

If you’re envisioning bodybuilders bulking up at the gym lifting extremely heavy weights, that’s not what we’re talking about. Depending on your equipment availability and what you enjoy, strength training comes in many forms that you can try:

Body Weight Exercises

Things like squats, lunges, pushups, plank holds… the possibilities are endless! This type of strength training is most accessible because it can be done anywhere without special equipment and still be extremely effective.

Resistance Bands or Tubing

Although inexpensive and lightweight, don’t let the fitness tubing fool you. They can offer serious strength training work! When stretched, the resistance from these products can be used in a variety of full-body exercises.

Free Weights

Dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells and medicine balls are the classic tools for strength training. They can also be great tools for balance training. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are extremely versatile to help you reach your goals.

Weight Machines

Usually available in most gyms or fitness centers. If you’re not sure how to use them, ask for help!

Cable Suspension Training

Using cables, you will suspend part of your body while doing another type of exercise, like pushups or rowing. These also build balance in a big way.

Warming Up to Resistance Training

If you want to get started building your strength with resistance training, it’s a good idea to first consult with your cardiologist. Once you get the green light, here are six easy steps to incorporating strength training into your weekly routine. 

1. 1. Start with a warm-up. Spend 5 to 10 minutes before you start training to prepare your body for upcoming exercise and to prevent injury.
   2. Learn correct form. This is the most important part of a strength training program and correct form should be practiced through every movement. Body positioning when doing any type of strength training, even if completely unloaded, is essential to prevent injury and to maximize benefit. Correct body alignment will help you move smoothly through each exercise. Think slow, smooth, controlled for every repetition completed.
   3. Know how much to do. In strength training, every individual exercise you complete is called a repetition, or rep. In most cases, starting with 10-15 reps for each exercise is best. Each group of reps is called a set. One set is an OK place to start, but strive to build up to 2-3 sets of each movement. You can do as many as 8-10 muscle groups per day – and spending 20-30 minutes is a good overall goal. 
   4. Breathe. Exhale when working against resistance; inhale as you release.
   5. Challenge the muscles. If you are able to maintain perfect form, slowly increase weight, repetitions and/or sets.  A general rule of thumb is to choose a weight or resistance that allows your muscles to reach fatigue while completing the last two repetitions of an exercise.
   6. Take a break. Days off between strength training sessions allows for muscle recovery, which is essential to prevent injury and allow for growth.

The Many Benefits of Strength Training

“The benefits of strength training are often underestimated, but the truth is that a combination of cardio plus resistance offers patients with heart disease the greatest cardiovascular protection,” explains Amy Birling, BS, CCRP, RCEP, program director for WakeMed’s Cary Hospital Cardiac Rehab program. “Strength training makes the heart more efficient, and reduces the chances of ischemia (when the heart doesn’t get enough oxygen), which can lead to heart attack.”

But that’s not all. Outlined below, you can see the many important reasons to incorporate strength training into your exercise program.

• Can decrease blood pressure.
• Improves blood circulation by strengthening the heart and blood vessels.
• Lowers total and LDL (bad) cholesterol.
• Helps manage blood sugar levels.
• Can help maintain a healthy body weight.
• Increases strength, endurance and power. 
• Helps improve balance and decreases risk of falling.
• Increases bone density and reduces risk of fractures.
• For arthritis patients, reduces pain and improves physical functioning.
• Promotes greater mobility and flexibility.
• Can be done anywhere with little to no equipment.

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Work with an expert. 

Did you know that our cardiac rehab facilities in Raleigh and Cary have trained fitness specialists who can offer assistance with strength training? Many of our former cardiac rehab patients join Medicare’s Silver Sneakers program to get access to our strength training equipment – taking comfort in our medically-supervised environment.

This article is a reprint from Heart to Heart Magazine. See the latest issue.