Your cardiovascular system consists mainly of the heart and blood vessels that are important in pumping blood, which delivers nutrients to all parts of your body. Having a strong cardiovascular system allows your body to work more efficiently, improves your stamina, improves your brain function, athletic performance, and even improves sleep quality.
There are three main ways to improve your cardiovascular system:
- Exercise
Exercise helps to strengthen your heart over time. If you stay consistent in doing exercise, your heart becomes more efficient as it pumps more blood per beat than it did before, so the heart can pump more oxygen-rich blood throughout the body with fewer beats. This also means that your resting heart rate will decrease, making it much more efficient.
There are two main types of exercises that can be beneficial:
Aerobic Exercise is any type of exercise that raises your heartbeat such as walking, running, and even playing sports. Beginners can start off by walking or jogging as doing either of these on a consistent basis will cause your body to adapt to strengthening your cardiovascular system in response to these exercises. Sports is one of the best forms of cardio, because many times it’s like an interval where you’re exerting a lot of energy in bursts, then lower energy in bursts. So there is a constant change in your heartbeat. Playing tennis, racket, ball, basketball, and volleyball are all great sports.
Resistance or Strength training can increase muscle mass, improve coordination, and also provides an increase in heartbeat doing bouts of circuit training sessions, where you go from exercise to exercise with little to no rest between the exercises is a great way to keep your heartbeat off and build muscle at the same time. - Good Nutritional Habits
Nutrition can also have a major effect on your cardiovascular system. Two of the biggest things with nutrition are not over-consuming calories and making sure you’re getting plenty of fruits, veggies, and other plant-based foods. Consistently over-consuming calories can lead to weight gain, or an increase in fat storage, which can compress organs and blood vessels. Many of these contain vitamins and minerals, which help your body function properly. Fiber keeps your digestion strong and contains many antioxidants and phytonutrients, which help your body fight off harmful free radicals and foreign invaders. - Proper Rest
Good quality sleep can also be beneficial to your cardiovascular health as sleep is a time when your heartbeat slows down, giving your heart a bit of a break. It also stimulates tissue growth and muscle repair. 7-9 hours of good quality sleep are recommended for most adults.
If you struggle with cardiovascular issues that you want to improve, consult with your doctor or a healthcare professional before making any drastic changes!