If you’re like most of us, there are two big factors that decide when you need to stop pushing your body to new limits:
- Your legs (or other muscles)
- Your cardio
We feel you. Sometimes your heart is in it, but your body can’t keep up. Or maybe your legs feel great but your heart starts pounding out of your chest and you have to slow down. Either way, we all know darn well how important a healthy heart is for us to live and perform our best.
The CDC says one person dies every 36 seconds in the U.S. from cardiovascular disease, making it the leading cause of death nationally in adults. Heart disease is responsible for 1 in every 4 deaths.
Runners generally bust the curve on these sorts of statistics, but running alone isn’t a singular prescription to overall heart health. We asked our partners at Novant Health for some fast facts to keep hearts healthy year-round.
Men and Women May Have Different Indicators of Heart Disease
Because women are underrepresented in research and clinical trials, doctors don’t have a wide pool of data about how they respond to heart disease. Women are more prone to some of the risk factors that cause heart disease, like obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. African American women, especially, have a higher incidence of blood pressure than any other race or gender and are at higher risk of heart disease.
Because of these differences, women may have different symptoms of heart disease and need different approaches to treatment, according to Go Red for Women. Women often need to look for different signs of heart trouble than men. So:
Know Your Symptoms
Chest pain is probably the most obvious sign of heart disease, along with a feeling of tightness in the chest or shortness of breath. But there are less obvious signs that you may just chalk up to a tough workout or a bad meal – but may be signs your heart needs attention! For women, especially, the symptoms are more likely to be upper back or neck pain, indigestion, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, extreme fatigue, upper body discomfort, and dizziness, and are more likely to occur while resting rather than working out.
And here’s one you might not expect: Pain, numbness, weakness or coldness in your legs or arms. What you believe to be soreness from a hard workout could be a sign of heart disease or heart attack, if the blood vessels in those parts of your body are narrowed. If you’re experiencing any signs or signals from your body that are unfamiliar, call your doctor. Or call 911 immediately if you think you are in cardiac arrest.
LISTEN: Black Men Run Works to Upend Health Disparities
Risk Factors Play a Part
If you’re a runner, you’re off to a good start: Lack of exercise is one of the biggest risk factors for heart disease. The others are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking. The CDC says nearly HALF of Americans have at least one of these risk factors!
Anyone with these four big risk factors should also be aware of other indicators that may lead to heart disease, like diabetes, obesity, substance abuse, and poor diets high in trans fats. Tackling any one of these risk factors is a good start towards heart health.
How-To for Heart Health
There are ways to limit your risk, starting now. If you exercise and get your heart rate up for 30 minutes, 3 days a week (like going for a walk or an easy run!), that’s a good start. Runners, fine-tuning that cardio is what we do. But just because we run doesn’t mean we can forgo the other essentials to heart health. Here are a few other tips:
- Forget the fast food. Yes, it’s convenient, but no – and you know this – it shouldn’t be an everyday thing. At most, it should be occasional treat, which means you should really limit how often you eat it.
- Be a good shopper and a lazy cook. A good shopper fills the carts with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and very little processed food. Throw a piece of chicken or fish in a pan, and a bag of veggies in the microwave. Add seasoning (but limit salt if your diet calls for it). Eating healthy can be easy if you keep it simple. And make sure to drink plenty of water, too.
- Walk when you can! If you can take stairs instead of an elevator, do it. Working from home? Take a trip around the block when you feel like snacking. Going somewhere? Park at the end of the lot and walk to the store – or take your bike if you can.
- Quit smoking and lose weight, if these apply to you. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – a personal trainer or program can help you take a leap and break bad habits, or exchange them for new, healthier ones.
- Go see your doctor. It may have been years, but your doctor can check you out for overall health and spot any problems before they develop into something more serious.
If you’ve got this covered, good for you! If not, no worries. Like the saying goes, the best time start something was yesterday. The second best time is today.