5 Exercises For Heart Health | SilverSneakers

There are lots of great exercises you can do for a healthy heart. And in addition to this video, Silver Sneakers members can access live virtual workouts every day of the week. We offer a wide range of class options and instructors so you can choose what is right for you. And the best part is that you can chat live with the instructors all at no cost to you if you're eligible for a Silver Sneakers membership. To check out our schedule and sign up for classes, check the first link in the description box below following this workout. Here are five exercise combinations I enjoy for a healthy heart. Let's begin with a walk. Now you might choose to have a chair nearby for some standing support. Make this workout be just right for you. Our first combination is to work heart health and muscular endurance. Just walk in place and pump your arms. If you have the space, walk to me. Four, three, two, go back and try it again. Go back and we'll do a little bit more. Pump your arms, pull forward, push back and again. One more time, stay in place. Lift your right knee up then left. The knees don't have to be too high. Once you feel comfortable, you might reach one arm out in front. If you like this and you'd like a little bit more, maybe reach up. Here's another option. Both hands go out and in or up and down. Come back to a walk in place. We're gonna put those two moves together. We go in four, three, walk up to me. Four, three, two and back. Right knee lifts, you choose the arms that are best for you. Walk up to me, walk back, right knee lifts. Let's add on. Step touch, nice and easy with the arms. You might choose to reach and pull. Palms face each other. You might choose to add a little bit more of a leap side to side. Let's add on again. Step down, hamstring curl. Keep your knees pointing down. Let your heel come up towards your backside. Cross your wrists, pull your elbows back. All right, in four more. We'll put all four moves together. Walk to me, four, three, two, go back. Right knee lifts up, four, three, two. Step touch, I'm gonna go easy arms. Step down, hamstring curl, cross and pull. Let's try it again. Last time, walk to me, back you go. Right knee lifts. Step touch, how about the reach and pull arms? Step down, hamstring curl. Nice, walk in place. All right, that was our first little combination to build heart muscular endurance. Let's work on strength, which is also important for heart health. I'm gonna turn to the side. Let's plant our feet, chest up tall, hands down. Hinge from your hips. You find the position that's right for you. Open your elbows out to the sides. Squeeze your elbows together down in front. Push through your heels, press up. Let's do that again, just a little faster. You do not need weights. I actually prefer this exercise without weights so that you can work on improved range of motion. Let's do two more. Hip hinge, squeeze your shoulder blades together. Press down, press up. One more time. All right, I have a new exercise for us. Float your arms up in front. Reach out in front of your head. Turn your palms to me. Pull your elbows down to your hips. Reach out and up, then float your arms down. Let's do that movement. Pick up the pace just a little bit. We float up, pull down, reach up, float down. Again. Find a pain-free range of motion for you. All right, one more time. We're gonna put those two moves together. Are you ready? Hip hinge, open your elbows, squeeze down. Push through your feet and rise. Float your arms up, palms face me. Pull your elbows down, up, and float down. Last time. Hip hinge, open elbows out, squeeze down, and stand. Nice, roll your shoulders back. Third exercise, we walk, face me. We're gonna work on a little bit of coordination. Find a nice, easy rhythm. All right, here's our change. Walk three and tap. One, two, three, tap. Travel to the side. One, two, three, tap. Adding on, walk to this side, tap out, knee lift. I'm gonna add a reach across and a reach up. Reach across, reach up. One more time. Let's lose the walk, just tap out, knee lift. That's it. Now, if you find this is too fast, shorten your range of motion. We have four more. Three, then listen. Walk three and tap. One, two, three, tap. Tap and walk on your left. That's it. So now we're on the left lead, and we're gonna do all that again on the left. We go in four, three, walk, three, tap. One, two, three, tap. Take a look to your left. Let's walk over. Do you have the space? Tap, come on back. And again. All right, walk over here. We're adding on, tap out to the side. Lift your knee up. You're in control with how big the range of motion is. Can we reach across our heart? Reach out or up. Listen, just the tap and the knee. Tap, knee, tap, knee. Maybe we reach out in front. Maybe no arms. Four, three, two. Just walk in place. Nice. All right, our next exercise is to improve muscular power, which is also important for heart health. We'll stay on the left lead. All right. The first exercise is just a walk. Walk four, four, three, two, step out, push in. Do it again. Four, three, two, push out and in. That's all I need. But of course, if you'd like to add more, how about we squat, then push in? Can we do that again? Four, three, two, squat, push in. Sit your hips back. Knees stay over the middle of your foot. One more time, I'm gonna add on. Could we lift this knee up? One, two, three, four, squat, lift. Or one, two, three, four, push, lift. Lots of choices. Just power back in. All right, let's do a couple more. Now listen, this is the last one. Bring your feet down, lift your heels up. Chair's there if you'd like to hold on. Down and up. A little faster. Elbows down, hips back, push up. We'll add the speed. Down, push, down, push. Roll through your feet. All right, walk on your left. Just walk, and we'll start the combination in just a minute. Four, three, walk four, press out and in. Four, three, two, press out and in. Or four, three, two, little squat and push. Four, three, two, just a little bend in your knees. Hips go back. Sometimes we lose what foot we're marching on, and that's okay. Just pick it up, come back in when you're ready. Happens to me all the time. All right, let's add on. Lift your knee if you want it. One, two, three, four, push out and knee. Or one, two, three, four, squat, knee. Last time. All right, feet go down, calf raise, lift. Nice and easy, come down, calf raise, lift. Pick up the pace. We come down, a little thrust. Hold on to the chair if you'd like a little bit more stability. Nice, we've got four more. Three, two, and then walk on your right. Woo, nice. The last combination I have for us is flexibility. So we've worked heart muscular endurance, coordination, power, muscular strength, and we have to round it out with flexibility for a healthy heart. So when you're ready, plant your feet, roll your shoulders back. Right arm is going to reach up. Just a little side lean if you'd like. Back up and come down. Now the other side, just bend your elbow, reach up, over to the side, up and down. Can we do that again on the right? Find the range of motion that feels right for you. This is a nice stretch for our side body. All right, from here, both arms float up, full body stretch in front and come down. If you'd prefer, bend your elbows, lift your heart, and then sweep down. So you can choose straight arms or bent elbows, whatever feels best for you. And down. One more time, we float up and down. Lift your shoulders to your ears. We lift up and down, up and down. Bring your shoulders front and back. We'll squeeze front and back. All right, slow down, cross your wrists in front, palms up open wide, thumbs lead the way. Do it one more time. All right, reach to me nice and easy. Pull your elbows in by your sides. Push and pull. Do that again. Push and pull. One more time. You might wanna hold onto the chair. Your right foot's in front, your left foot is back. A split stance. Legs are straight and just a mild hinge forward from the hip. Keep your spine lengthened, belly buttons in. Feel a nice stretch in your low back and behind your right gluteal and hamstring. Chest comes up, bend your right knee. Keep your left leg straight. Shift your weight forward. Get a little stretch in your calf. And then we'll shift back onto the left. Lift our right toes and sit back. Push up, step in. Left foot forward, right foot back. Even weight between both feet. Hinge from your hip. You choose the depth that's right for your back, your hips, your hamstrings. Belly buttons in. Look out in front. Big inhale. On the exhale, we'll lift our heart. Bend your front knee. Keep your chest lifted. Press your back heel to the ground. Little stretch for our calf and for our hip flexor. Shift your weight back. Bend your standing leg. Lift your toes up towards your nose. Deepen the stretch for your hamstring. Shift forward, stand tall, step in. Roll your shoulders back. Great job. That was so much fun. Thank you so much for joining me today. And don't forget to check out the link at the end of this video to see the class schedule. And of course, to sign up. I would love to meet you in one of our live classes. Until next time.