Dr. Zachary F. Solomon is a cardiac surgeon who commonly instructs patients to get more physically active to improve their heart health. Many people feel like they need to run a marathon or hit the gym for hours every day of the week to enjoy heart-healthy benefits. While these activities are undoubtedly great, Dr. Zachary F. Solomon notes that implementing something as simple as a stretching routine can pay significant positive dividends on one’s heart health. Today, Dr. Zachary F. Solomon will explain how just three months of a passive stretching routine can help elevate a person’s heart health.
While it has long been believed that stretching is good for one’s muscles, a medical study recently pointed out that stretching can help the vascular system by improving blood flow throughout the body. Not only did the study show increased blood flow in participants, but they also had a decrease in artery stiffness.
If readers are confused about passive stretching, Dr. Zachary F. Solomon is here to help. Passive stretching occurs when some external force provides the stretch. It could be an accessory, a person or even gravity. What’s so exciting about the fact that stretching improves cardiovascular health is that improvements to one’s vascular system can help reduce the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
While people are still encouraged to perform some level of aerobic exercise on top of their stretching routine, this shows that people just starting their fitness journey don’t need to overexert themselves to enjoy some health benefits. Stretching, offering similar benefits to activities like walking, running, biking, and swimming, shows that people not used to exercising can start slow and work their way up while still reaping the rewards of their stretching routines.
Dr. Zachary F. Solomon is a big proponent of people having a plan to prevent vascular disease. There are few things more dangerous than poor blood flow. Positive blood flow within the body can help ease pressure within the 100,000 miles of blood vessels inside the adult body. When blood flow is stagnant, people find themselves at a much higher risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack.
For the past several decades, the medical community has pretty much exclusively recommended aerobic-type exercises for improving the health of the arteries. The study on the benefits of stretching was released during the heart of the pandemic. Dr. Zachary F. Solomon notes that as people were told to quarantine and avoid public gyms, the news of consistent stretching routines providing heart-healthy benefits was much appreciated throughout the medical community.
Overall, people should look to add stretching into their routine. Like any other heart-healthy activity, a stretching routine will not benefit if people disregard their diet, show no interest in other physical activity, and routinely smoke tobacco products. Heart health is a balancing act, but Dr. Zachary F. Solomon is excited to share that stretching routines can now be a part of the balancing equation.