Tips To Keep Fit And Boost Your Heart Health As A College Student

Tips To Keep Fit And Boost Your Heart Health As A College Student

Going to a college or higher learning institution would be exciting as it gives you more freedom compared to what you enjoyed in high school. You have the freedom to choose when to do your assignments, what nutrition to have, and sometimes when to attend a lecture. Of course, there are still tests and examinations.

However, you must be aware that with your newfound freedom of choices and with no parents or instructors monitoring your life, the onus is on you to be responsible for your health, education, and social life. As dictated by the Peter Parker principle, “with great power comes great responsibility.” You have the responsibility to take care of what you eat, drink, amount of sleep you get, and most importantly, how you stay fit and healthy.

In this article, we’re going to discuss some of the best ways to fit and boost your heart health as you navigate through college life.

But first;

Here are some of the common heart conditions

According to the sayings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death among men, women, and ethnic groups in the United States. They include:

• Heart attack and heart failure
• Coronary artery disease
• Congenital heart defects
• Arrhythmia
• Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Aortic stenosis

The good thing is, most of these heart conditions are prevented and can be managed by changing one’s lifestyle or driving your risk factors like inactive lifestyles.

Tips for maintaining good heart health

Do enough exercises

If you have to prevent becoming static, then you must get moving and get some exercises done. Recollect, your heart is a muscle, and like any other muscle, exercises strengthen them. That said, staying physically active would be a significant step for boosting your heart health.

So, how do exercises relate to your heart health besides strengthening the heart muscle?

Regular exercises like aerobics and resistance training would benefit your heart in the following ways: 

Aerobics exercises would help in your cardiac output. Meaning it improves your circulation, lowering the heart rate and blood pressure. Apart from increasing your overall aerobic fitness, aerobics help reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes as they control the glucose in the blood.

Therefore, as a student, you must determine your target heart rate. Identify some exercise-related activities you enjoy and include them in your daily operations for improved heart health. 

Keep in mind that exercising is one of the most practical tools to help strengthen your heart muscles and improve your blood circulation for improved heart health. Otherwise, your chance of stroke and heart attack is looming if you don’t exercise.

In a nutshell, exercise:

• Strengthens your cardiovascular and heart systems
• Lowers blood pressure and improves your endurance
• Improves your circulation helping your body to maximize oxygen

Cut your weight

Are you aware that your heart conditions are related to your body weight? Indeed, being overweight increases your chances of getting heart-related problems like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, among others.

Therefore, if you’re overweight, then it would be best if you shed some. You don’t need to roam around with a big belly as such raises your risk levels. In losing weight, ensure you know which loss weight diet to choose as you do some exercises. 

Maintain a healthy diet

Diet works a vital role in your heart health, and some foods would impact your risk of heart-related conditions. Be advised; particular food would influence your blood pressure, triglyceride, inflammation, and cholesterol levels, all of which put you at risk of heart diseases.

Therefore, it would be best to identify and eat foods that are best for your heart health as a student. In other words, watch your diet.

Here are a few heart-healthy foods:

• Leafy and green vegetables (spinach, and kales which are rich in vitamin, mineral, and are antioxidants)
• Try grains and berries
• Fatty fish like broiled salmon
• Eat fewer sugar foods- too much sugar would increase your blood sugar resulting in diabetes.

You must also;

Limit/avoid saturated fats like those found in ghee, fatty meats as it’s believed to increase cholesterol levels.

Manage your stress

It’s certainly correct to say stress is inevitable and that it makes part of our lives. But, you might not know that even minor stress would trigger heart-related conditions such as trim or poor blood flow, leading to a heart muscle problem.

Understandably, you can’t control everything as a student, and more so, you’re bound to be stressed with so many things from balancing academics, social and economic experiences. However, it would be best to take personal level control measures to manage your stress levels for healthy heart conditions. 

Unmanaged stress may result in so many heart risk-related factors like alcohol, smoking effects. And you most probably won’t do some exercise, which would increase your chance of heart disease. Therefore, you must find healthy ways to handle your stress.

Get enough sleep and rest

Have you ever thought that poor sleep can result in heart-related problems? Sure, sleep deprivation can result in insomnia linked to heart problems like high blood pressure, heart attack, and high cholesterol.

Also, not getting ample sleep can lead to unhealthy habits like higher stress levels. Worse would be being less physically active, all of which are risks of heart problems.

Conclusion

Every person reduces their risks of heart diseases when they practice healthy habits, and college students are no exception. Therefore, to help you keep fit and boost your heart health, ensure you get enough sleep, do some exercise, maintain a proper diet while watching your weight.