Heart Healthy Cardio, from Intermountain Health

February is Heart Month, and exercise experts say even simple cardio routines can improve your overall cardiovascular health.

Intermountain Park City Hospital exercise therapist Alora Bonner said the key to a good cardio workout is to keep moving, so your heart rate stays up even if the exercise seems simple. “You can use a stair at home or even the curb outside to increase your intensity,” she said.

Bonner suggests doing the following exercises a few times a week to get your cardio workout.

1) March in Place:

• While this may seem like a simple exercise, marching in place by lifting your legs with high knees and swinging your arms helps get your heart rate up quickly.
• People can make the exercise more difficult by increasing the time from 30-60 seconds or longer.

2) Stair Steps:

Using a raised surface like a lower stair people want to step up and down while swinging your arms for 30-60 seconds and doing at a pace to keep your heart rate up. “This makes it a little more challenging, a little more work for your legs,” said Bonner.

3) Jumping Jacks:

• Doing a normal jumping jack at a faster pace for 30-60 seconds can get the heart moving quickly and be a good workout for legs and arms.
• If you have lower leg issues or are unable to do a jumping jack you can move your arms up to the side while putting one leg out and tapping it, then moving your leg back before tapping the other leg out.

“Remember, the more steps you get in, the better for your heart,” said Bonner.

As part of American Heart Month in February, Intermountain Health is offering a Healthy Heart Quiz and other information and resources to help you assess your heart health. To take the quiz, go to: https://connect.intermountainhealth.org/heart. Addition, exercise, nutrition, and health tips can be found at  https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs.