Your heart is a muscle that needs exercise. Just as a sedentary lifestyle leaves the muscles in your arms and legs weak and flabby, your heart also weakens. When you exercise regularly, you reduce the work of the heart muscle by training your bodily tissues to more efficiently extract the oxygen from the circulating blood. In the final analysis, regular aerobic exercise will help to reduce your risk for heart attack, and may even reverse some of the adverse effects of coronary artery disease (CAD). Regular exercise can also help you to:

• Lose or maintain your weight
• Lower your blood pressure
• Lower your LDL (bad) cholesterol
• Increase your HDL (good) cholesterol
• Reduce stress
• Sleep better
• Reduce your risk for other diseases like stroke, cancer and more
• Improve carbohydrate metabolism and reduce your risk of developing diabetes mellitus

An effective exercise program generally incorporates two types of exercise. You should do at least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least five times per week. Aerobic exercise increases your breathing and heart rate, which in turn exercises your cardiovascular system (i.e. your heart, lungs and blood vessels). It also burns fat and calories. Examples of aerobic exercise include walking, jogging, swimming, tennis, aerobics, water aerobics and biking.

Your exercise program should also incorporate 20 to 30 minutes of anaerobic exercise two to three times per week. Unlike aerobic exercise, this form of exercise doesn't directly burn large amounts of fat and calories, but instead builds muscles. In the long run, the more muscles you have, the more calories and fat you'll burn and the more weight you'll lose. Examples of anaerobic exercise include weight lifting, push-ups and sit-ups.

Please note: You should not begin a new exercise program without first obtaining approval from your primary care physician and/or cardiologist, especially if you have a history of heart or circulatory problems.