Heart Health Tip #28 -- Don't lift heavy weights if you have heart disease

Love weight training? Maybe you shouldn't if you have heart disease -- here's why.

Lifting weights has a number of health benefits, for both men and women. But DrNileshGautam, senior interventional cardiologist, Asian Heart Institute, suggests that if you have heart disease, lifting heavy weights is best avoided.

Why?

Well, according to Dr Gautam,'When a person with heart disease lifts heavy weights his/her diastolic blood pressure (a number that indicates the pressure of blood in a person's arteries in between heart beats) goes up and the systolic goes down.' You may also like to read all you need about hypertension.

This basically means that your heart receives less blood making it work harder. Therefore even if you lift weights with a 40% blockage in your arteries, it makes your heart work as though there is a 60% block. So, the greater the blockage 20% greater is the pressure on your heart muscles, which can be very dangerous for people with heart disease. You may also like to read about how exercise can help keep your heart healthy.

What can you do instead?

Dr Gautam, suggests doing more cardio and aerobics exercises. Ideally, if you have heart disease that is under control with medication, gradually increasing the intensity of the exercises you do is perfect. But if you have blockages in your heart that are severe in nature, getting it treated first is the best way to stay healthy.

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