{"id":3836,"date":"2023-05-17T01:34:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T18:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-heart-per-a-heart-doctor-ironman\/"},"modified":"2023-05-17T01:34:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T18:34:05","slug":"how-to-strengthen-your-heart-per-a-heart-doctor-ironman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=3836","title":{"rendered":"How To Strengthen Your Heart, Per a Heart Doctor + Ironman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">I<\/span>ronman races and heart surgeries have a lot in common. At least that\u2019s according to likely one of the few people in the world who would know: <a href=\"https:\/\/southfloridahospitalnews.com\/delray-medical-center-jeffrey-h-newman-md\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/southfloridahospitalnews.com\/delray-medical-center-jeffrey-h-newman-md\/\">Jeffrey H. Newman, MD,<\/a> a cardiothoracic surgeon with the Palm Beach Health Network and a retired triathlete.<\/div>\n<p>\u201cOur operations are anywhere from two to five hours, and you have to remain focused on the task at hand and be efficient,\u201d says Dr. Newman, who last completed an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ironman.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ironman.com\/\">Ironman<\/a> in 2010. \u201cSo with triathlon, it was very easy to hone that concentration and that focus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another thing he\u2019s honed over years of heart surgeries and Ironman triathlons? How to design a training plan\u2014or even just a workout routine\u2014for maximum cardio benefits. Here, Dr. Newman shares how his expertise in heart health has shaped his approach to exercise, and his advice for optimizing your workouts to strengthen your heart, whether you\u2019re an Ironman or a casual gym-goer.<\/p>\n<h2>Consistency is key<\/h2>\n<p>Ironman triathlons consist of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run (yep, that&#8217;s a literal marathon tacked on to the end). While training for his races\u2014including the exclusive Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii\u2014Dr. Newman would exercise twice a day on weekdays, and go for long runs, bike rides, or swims on weekends. \u201cTraining for an endurance race means you have to prepare your body to be in that slogging state of exercising all day,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>You definitely don\u2019t need to be logging 20-plus hours of exercise a week to boost your heart health. But, says Dr. Newman, you <em>do<\/em> need to be consistent. Five to seven hours a week over four to five days, with a mix of aerobic and strength work, \u201cis probably adequate to keep your heart strong,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you exercise intermittently, or if you are a weekend warrior, you\u2019re not really getting the benefits you think you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-heart\/\" current-title=\"\u2018I\u2019m an Ironman Athlete and Heart Doctor\u2014Here\u2019s How I Design My Workouts for the Greatest Cardio Benefits\u2019\" current-image=\"GettyImages-how-to-strengthen-your-heart-425x285.jpg\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2022-11-16\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-heart\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-heart\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-heart\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Most days, keep things easy<\/h2>\n<p>One tenant of Ironman training that everyone can learn from? The vast majority of workouts are done in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/heart-rate-training-zones\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/heart-rate-training-zones\/\">heart rate zone two<\/a>, meaning they should feel relatively easy and sustainable for a long period of time. Zone two work builds endurance and aerobic capacity, gradually making your heart more efficient in carrying oxygen to your muscles, which allows you to accomplish more in your workouts with less effort.<\/p>\n<p>While Dr. Newman says higher-intensity training has a time and a place, he says zone two training will be more beneficial long-term for the heart than workouts that have your heart rate spiking and then resting.<\/p>\n<h2>The heart needs rest days, too<\/h2>\n<p>Though the heart is technically an organ, it primarily consists of muscular tissue that keeps it pumping. So just like your other muscles, which need time after workouts to rest and rebuild, the heart needs recovery days, too, says Dr. Newman.<\/p>\n<p>A rest day doesn\u2019t have to mean doing absolutely nothing, he says, but it shouldn\u2019t involve anything intense that gets your heart rate anywhere above a low zone two. This is for the same reason that you don\u2019t want to overtrain your other muscles\u2014especially if you have a race on the horizon: \u201cIf you don\u2019t allow your heart or your legs to recover from hard training days, you end up bonking,\u201d says Dr. Newman, \u201cor not going as fast as you want to because you never achieved the maximum benefit from your exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because remember: It\u2019s when we rest that our muscles rebuild and actually grow stronger. So if you never let your heart rest, you\u2019ll never get the max benefit of the time and work you put into strengthening it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ironman races and heart surgeries have a lot in common. At least that\u2019s according to likely one of the few people in the world who would know: Jeffrey H. Newman, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon with the Palm Beach Health Network and a retired triathlete. \u201cOur operations are anywhere from two to five hours, and you &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}