Find out the answer to the question of why you can not ignore aerobic exercise and be sure to monitor the development of the cardiovascular system. The main muscle of the human body is the heart, without its work, there will simply be no sense in all other muscles. But sometimes we often forget about such an important organ and wear it out. But cardiovascular diseases rank first in the world in mortality, confidently bypassing even oncological diseases. When doing strength training, athletes often overlook cardiac training, but in vain …
The heart and its importance in bodybuilding
The heart is a muscle that is not at rest for a minute, because it has to contract constantly, supplying the entire body with oxygen, pumping blood throughout the body. The biggest mistake many novice athletes make is that they do not consider it necessary to train the heart separately, or they do it wrong. Only a well-trained heart will give you endurance and endurance. It doesn't matter what pile of muscles you have, if the "motor" is weak, then after a minute of intense running you will begin to suffocate due to lack of oxygen, you will be covered with hail of sweat, and your face will take on a crimson hue. And all this is the result of a weak heart and it is good if everything ends only this way, and does not become the result, for example, of a stroke and its sad consequences.
In addition, the more a person's body weight, the more the heart has to work, pumping more blood in order to supply all organs with a sufficient amount of oxygen. Accordingly, a bodybuilder, building muscle mass, constantly increases his weight and the heart has to contract more often, and the more it does this, the faster it wears out, a kind of circulation turns out.
For every 10 kg of weight, an additional three liters of oxygen is required every minute. But all this is good, you say, what to do, after all, do not give up the muscle mass, which has been building up over the years in order to facilitate the work of the heart? No, it is not necessary to lose weight for this, although this option is possible, but not for a bodybuilder. There is only one way out for athletes - to increase the volume of the heart to be able to transport more blood with a lower frequency of contractions, that is, wear. And this can only be achieved by training him.
Heart muscle hypertrophy
Note that the volume of the heart should be increased, not its size, these are fundamentally different things. Both in the first and in the second case, hypertrophy occurs, that is, an increase, that's just what exactly the volume of blood vessels or the thickness of the walls of the heart, this is very important.
Hypertrophy can be positive and is denoted by the Latin letter L, in which case there is an expansion and increase in the volume of the vessels of the main muscle. This allows the heart to easily pump the required amount of blood, and at the same time, without working to wear and tear.
The second variant of hypertrophy is called the D-type and does not bear such rosy prospects as in the first case. The enlargement of the heart occurs as a result of the compaction of its walls, this happens when it cannot cope with the required amount of blood and does not relax. At this moment, the walls of the vessels begin to thicken, leading to various diseases, for example, to micro-strokes.
Secrets of proper heart training
To achieve L-type heart hypertrophy, and not vice versa, one should train with a pulse in the range of 110-140 beats per minute. You should not drive it to the maximum maximum of 180 strokes, this is a common mistake that leads to sad consequences. Better medium rhythm, but work longer. For comparison, the frequency of impacts in a calm state of a person is about 70 per minute.
The heart should be "accelerated" to 130 beats gradually, and upon reaching this point, one should continue to maintain just such a rhythm, and the duration of such training should be about an hour, no less. During this time, the elasticity of the muscle increases, the amount of blood passed through the heart during this period increases several times, which contributes to a gradual increase in its volume.
In order to achieve the desired result, such training should be resorted to at least three times a week and it should be at least an hour each. By doing this, you will achieve more pumped blood in one contraction, and as a result of less wear and tear on the heart and, of course, you will be able to develop endurance. And at rest, you will need to do fewer heart beats, which will also significantly reduce the load on it.
Exercise training can contain absolutely any, as long as the pulse is kept at the same level all the time, does not go lower and does not go off scale. Running is usually recommended, but rather it is already a stereotype from the past. You don’t like to run, you don’t need to eat swimming, jumping rope, boxing, exercise bike or just intense walking, the main thing is that in this process you constantly monitor your heart rate, that's all.
"Stretching" of the heart, is there a limit?
The average person has a heart volume of 600 ml, a trained athlete doubles it to 1200 ml. And a very trained, for example, a named athlete or hockey player achieves a volume of 1500-1800 ml, well, this is already a very serious level. From this example, it can be seen that it is possible to double the volume, that is, by 50%. This result can be achieved in six months, provided that one hour of training takes place daily. If you are not ready for such daily loads, three times a week will be enough for a start and this will allow you to stretch the heart muscle by 30-40%.
Heart rate monitoring
There are two methods of controlling the contraction of the heart. The first is to measure the pulse with the middle finger, which should be applied to the carotid artery in the neck or on the wrist of the left hand, where this indicator is usually measured in a hospital.
Having felt the pulse, you should count six seconds and multiply the number of beats received by ten. The longer you take, the more accurate the result will be. For example, you can count the number of beats in 15 seconds and multiply them by four to get your heart rate per minute. It is necessary to measure the pulse in this way with the middle finger, since the thumb or forefinger have their own strong pulsation, which can confuse you.
The second, more modernized method is the heart rate monitor (pictured above). Such a device is able to measure the pulse with accuracy, as with the passage of an ECG, only in the present time. This miracle of technology is a wristwatch-like sensor that is attached under the chest with a special elastic strap. Of course, such a device will become a good friend for those who have decided to seriously engage in heart training, and also come in handy for those who want to burn excess body fat. Since it is from such cardio workouts that is best, it turns out to get rid of excess weight. Probably the only significant drawback for many will be the price of the heart rate monitor. You will have to pay from 50 to 200 dollars for it, depending on the manufacturer's firm, design and brand promotion.
Harm of heavy loads on the heart
It is not too good to eat, this is also a fact, since there is still such a disease as myocardial dystrophy. The problem with this pathology is the excessive stress on the heart. When there is an average load on the heart muscle, at 130 beats per minute, the heart contracts and relaxes. When training is too intense and the frequency of contractions is at the limit of the capabilities of the heart, it does not have time to relax.
Due to the fact that he has to constantly work, overstrain occurs in the heart and leads to hypoxia, and as a result of this, hypertrophy occurs, that is, the growth of the walls. This process over a long time can lead to necrosis (death) of heart cells, and this, in turn, causes microinfarctions. As a result, the heart is enlarged in volume, but not due to stretching of the walls of blood vessels, but as a result of dead tissues, which have formed unnecessary, additional ballast on the heart.
Myocardial dystrophy develops at loads on the heart in the range of 180-200 beats per minute, which is unacceptable for its normal operation and, as a result, can lead to cardiac arrest. Because of what athletes often die, as a rule, in their sleep. In addition to all this, too intense training, which leads to cell death, is an irreversible process. If you have already made such pathological changes, you can only stretch the "living" part of the heart. But the dead cells will interfere with the further, correct work of the heart throughout their life.
As a rule, a bodybuilder's heart is not too trained, unless, of course, he additionally does a cardio load.
There are two reasons for this condition. The first is that the heart muscle has to expel more blood due to the muscle weight. Second, there is a large rest interval between sets, which entails restoring the heart rate to below the required minimum level. But with less rest, the bodybuilder would lose weight, which is also unacceptable for him, but the heart was trained more intensely. For weightlifters and powerlifters, the situation looks even worse, since they have even less rest between sets.
When starting training, remember the golden mean, too much can sometimes be just as harmful as a lack. Include cardio in your routine, but do it moderately. In addition to training, do not forget to strengthen your heart with a vitamin complex and remember the dangers of excess cholesterol and fatty foods, they also negatively affect the work of our most important muscle. A properly functioning heart will be the key to long life.
Video on how to train the heart:
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