For optimal heart health, healthy people should get 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise most days of the week, experts from the American Heart Association recommend. Yet when working out gives you angina, or chest pain, meeting your exercise requirements becomes more difficult. However, you can still get the benefits of exercise from a modified workout that will keep you fit without straining your heart.
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CAUSE
Stable angina is chest pain that occurs when you exercise, but not when you're at rest. This pain occurs when the heart doesn't receive enough oxygen. Exercise increases your heart's demand for oxygen, making angina is more likely. Narrowed or blocked arteries are the most common reason the heart can't get sufficient oxygen. Usually arteries become narrowed or blocked due to atherosclerosis and its related condition, coronary heart disease. In these conditions, plaque, or debris composed of fat, cholesterol and calcium, builds up inside the arteries, impairing blood flow.
BENEFITS OF EXERCISE
Exercise is one way to treat atherosclerosis and improve blood flow to your heart, reducing the likelihood of an angina attack. Regular exercise can lower your LDL, or bad, cholesterol and raise HDL, or good, cholesterol, which can help cut plaque build-up. Working out also increases your arterial cells' nitric oxide output, which boosts circulation. In addition, exercise may encourage the production of new arterial lining cells.
EXERCISE GUIDELINES
Exercising a minimum of 30 minutes 5 days a week is still appropriate even if you're at risk for angina, according to experts from the University of Maryland. Brisk walking, biking and swimming can all help, but you may need to exercise at a low intensity to prevent an angina attack. You can also break your exercise sessions into blocks of 10 or 15 minutes, if a 30-minute workout causes chest pain.
WARM UPS
A gentle 10-minute warm-up session before you start exercising may prevent angina. Warming up can help you exercise over 34 percent longer before the onset of an angina attack, according to an article published in the British Heart Journal in August 1987. Your warm-up should gradually increase your heart rate to within 20 beats per minute of the recommended workout heart rate for your age. Start your warm-up with the lowest-intensity activity, such as stretching, them move on to something slightly more intense, such as walking.
WARNINGS
If you experience angina while exercising, stop until symptoms pass. Avoid exercising after a large meal or in cold weather, as this may trigger an angina attack. If you have unstable angina, meaning you experience chest pain while at rest, exercise may not be appropriate for you. In this case, consult your health care provider for guidance about much to exercise. Never ignore angina. If you've been experiencing exercise-related angina but haven't been medically evaluated, make an appointment to have your health care provider check your heart health.