A beginner's guide to heart healthy workouts

Whether you're eight or 80, discover how regular exercise can keep your heart healthy and strong.

While you should consider your current health condition before starting a new exercise regimen, most people can benefit from doing the following heart healthy exercises for 30 minutes three-to-five times per week.

Aerobic exercise is excellent for heart health. The general rule for finding your optimal exertion level is to do enough activity to get your heart and breathing rates up, but not so much that you can't talk.

High-impact activities such as aerobics or running can be very invigorating, but lower-impact activities such as walking and swimming are much easier on your joints.

Resistance or weight training is another component of a heart-healthy workout. You'll strengthen muscles and bones, and weights are a great complement to cardiovascular activity. Y

ou can get your heart involved by doing a circuit-style workout that uses a higher number of repetitions with lower weights so that you can "feel the burn" while getting your heart rate up.

No workout would be complete without a warm up and cool down period to stretch the muscles before and after your primary activity.

Stretch the hamstrings (backs of legs) and quads (tops of thighs), as well as your back and chest before doing cardiovascular or resistance training.

While these three areas should form the basis of your heart-healthy workout regimen, how you structure it is up to you. Consider your preferences and fitness level as you schedule your workouts throughout the week. Working out for 30 minutes three-to-five times per week is just a guideline. Any amount of exercise helps, and if you can do just 10 minutes a day to start, do that.

One way to structure your workouts is to alternate weight training and cardiovascular activity. Others prefer to do some of each at every workout. Regardless, be sure to stretch adequately and include light activity before and after your workout so that you warm up and cool down properly.

Lastly, take steps to avoid the biggest exercise program saboteurs: boredom and burnout. You can help alleviate these roadblocks to success by choosing workout activities you truly enjoy. If you love biking, surfing or hiking, make time for these activities. If your only option is the treadmill, make it more fun by creating a playlist of your favourite songs to enjoy while you walk or run.

Beginner or not, there's no time like the present to get started on a heart healthy workout.