Encourage your clients to exercise for heart health


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February is American Heart Month, which serves as a great reminder that keeping your heart healthy is extremely important. For everybody, including seniors, getting enough exercise is one great way to reduce your risk factor for coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke by helping you lose weight and control high blood pressure. Providers of home care services for seniors can help their clients lower their risk for these conditions by encouraging them to perform daily exercises like these:

Aerobic workouts
Cardio workouts get your heart rate up, your blood pumping and burn a lot of calories, which is why they’re so good for losing weight and avoiding heart issues. Some great aerobic exercises seniors can easily do are jogging (or even just walking) outside or on a treadmill, biking or swimming. The American Heart Association recommends getting 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise at least five days per week and more if you need to lower your blood pressure or cholesterol levels.

Weight training
Strength exercises also get the body moving and burning calories, and they have added benefits like improving balance and muscle control. Use weights or resistance bands to get the most out of your strength training exercises. The American Heart Association recommends doing strength exercises twice a week for better heart health.