The heart is considered the most important organ for being one of the strongest muscles in the human body, pumping blood at a massive rate. But as Dr. Andy Galpin suggested in a video, it does not have a motor to keep it going. Therefore, it’s crucial to keep it as healthy and strong as one could.
Dr. Galpin is a professor of Human Kinesiology with a special focus on human performance, leading him to several lectures on improving heart health and VO2 max levels. Recently, he prompted his audience to think about how significant it was to keep one’s heart up and running.
Unlike other muscles in our body, the heart does not get sore or tired, but instead could grow weaker leading to a plethora of issues. Therefore, one could not risk the chance of not training sufficiently and suffering consequences.
Enhancing the heart’s performance through exercise and a healthy lifestyle could go a long way towards improving the quality of life. The professor noted how one of the key elements of heart health was measuring the VO2 max levels.
“If you train appropriately, and of course you’ve got all the other factors like your nutrition and sleep and stress management under control, it’s not unrealistic to expect a 30-50% improvement in VO2 max after 6-12 months.”
Dr. Galpin also clarified that by training efficiently to improve the heart’s performance, one didn’t necessarily have to aim to be the fittest. All an individual had to focus on was strengthening their heart for optimal output.
“Remember, in the words of legendary track coach Bill Bowerman, “If you have a body, you’re an athlete.” And nobody ever complained about their heart performing too well.”
Stemming from this is the issue of several people afraid of trying to exercise or be fit since they’ve never set foot inside a gym. However, Dr. Galpin had previously worked on a solution for such cases as well.
Dr. Andy Galpin devised fitness solutions for the untrained
In an older conversation with Dr. Peter Attia, Dr. Galpin addressed how it was common to run into people who have been out of shape for a while and never attempted traditional exercising. The hesitation amongst such people arose from their inexperience surrounding training and workouts.
He believed that the most efficient solution to the problem was to include zone 2 cardio and strength training into the mix. This opened up the horizons to activities like walking, cycling, jogging, et cetera. which provided ample amounts of cardiovascular training beneficial for them.
