Physical activity strengthens your heart and improves lung function
When done regularly, moderate- and vigorous-intensity physical activity strengthens your heart muscle. This improves your heart’s ability to pump blood to your lungs and throughout your body. As a result, more blood flows to your muscles, and oxygen levels in your blood rise.
Capillaries, your body’s tiny blood vessels, also widen. This allows them to deliver more oxygen to your body and carry away waste products.
Physical activity reduces coronary heart disease risk factors
When done regularly, moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity can lower your risk for coronary heart disease. This is a condition in which a waxy substance called plaque builds up inside your coronary arteries. These arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood.
Plaque narrows the arteries and reduces blood flow to your heart muscle. Eventually, an area of plaque can rupture (break open). This causes a blood clot to form on the surface of the plaque.
If the clot becomes large enough, it can mostly or completely block blood flow through a coronary artery. Blocked blood flow to the heart muscle causes a heart attack.
Certain traits, conditions, or habits may raise your risk for coronary heart disease. Physical activity can help control some of these risk factors by:
Lowering blood pressure and triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood)
Raising HDL (high density lipoproteins) (“good”) cholesterol levels
Reducing risk of overweight and obesity, when combined with a reduced-calorie diet
Maintaining a healthy weight over time once you have lost weight
Helping your body manage blood sugar and insulin levels, which lowers your risk for type 2 diabetes
Reducing levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a sign of inflammation and an increased risk of heart disease
Possibly helping you quit smoking, which is a major risk factor for heart disease
Inactive people are more likely to develop heart disease than people who are physically active.
