Heart smart

Your heart is the engine that drives the machine that is your body. If it is damaged your heart has difficulty managing blood load which causes your body to move more slowly and much less efficiently, leading to a chain of malfunctions. Keeping your engine/heart healthy and your machine running smoothly is important to success in the “game”. This is why it is important to include regular cardio exercise in your weekly routine. You don’t have to run a marathon, simply riding a stationary bike or brisk walking will help. Aerobic exercise helps to keep you from gaining extra weight, increases activity tolerance, pumps up your immune system to help you resist infections, decreases risk of metabolic disease such as diabetes, reduces blood pressure, increases insulin sensitivity, and reduces blood lipid levels, plus, it releases endorphins and helps you feel good!

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week. Moderate activity means 50% - 70% of max heart rate while vigorous activity means 70-85% max heart rate. To find your max heart rate, subtract your age from 220. To find your moderate heart rate zone (50-70% of maximal heart rate), multiple your max heart rate (220 - age) by 0.5 and 0.7 respectively. This is your moderate target heart rate zone. Here is an example: 50 year old runner wants to run at 50-70% max heart rate. 220-50 = 170. 170 x 0.5 = 85bpm as the low end of the moderate heart rate zone. 170 x 0.7 = 119 as the high end of the moderate heart rate zone. This athlete will want to keep his heart rate between 85 and 119 beats per minute for 150 minutes per week to target cardiac conditioning in the moderate zone. Conversely, if this runner would like to target the vigorous zone (70-85% max heart rate) he would keep his heart rate between 119 and 144.5 beats per minute for 75 minutes per week.

Many people work above the zone and feel if they are not working intensely (which can push their heart rate into the 85%+ range), they are not doing any good. This type of activity pushes non elite athletes out of the aerobic zone and into the anaerobic zone and does not serve the same purpose, and does not rely on fat as a fuel source. However, If you skillfully weave anaerobic training into your weekly routine, it helps to increase your VO2 max and lactate threshold, which ultimately increases your aerobic capacity. If you do not know how to program in anaerobic training you can become nonfunctionally overtrained and stagnate quickly. Think about your neighbor who runs the same distance in the same time and cannot seem to increase her speed. You must program aerobic and anaerobic training effectively to progress. (P.s. caloric intake, resistance training, stretching and proprioception all play a role as well)

The cascade effect of decreased cardiac conditioning:

Aging and inactivity cause changes in your heart vessels, making them more stiff and driving up blood pressure, forcing the heart to work harder and leading to heart disease. This can lead to stroke, heart attack or heart failure which in turn leads to decreased activity, weakness, decreased flexibility and a decrease in functional ability.

A qualified Strength and Conditioning Specialist can prescribe the right aerobic and anaerobic cardio training exercises to coordinate with your game type and timing.