Heart-Friendly Exercises

For optimum heart health, the American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise on most days of the week. If you can't get in 30 minutes all at once, you can divide your exercise routine into 10- or 15-minute segments. "Aerobic exercise improves heart and lung fitness and can impact many of the risk factors for heart disease," says Deb Sampson, RN, BC, clinical coordinator for cardiac rehabilitation at the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.