THE IMPORTANCE OF CARDIO EXERCISE - A Lifesaving Story

Cardio Exercise  - A True Life Saver!

Cardio exercise is the most misunderstood, misinterpreted, oversold component of the fitness industry. Yet it is the most important and has the greatest impact on your health and longevity. Just the simple fact that the number one killer in the United States is heart disease should drive everyone to include a healthy level of cardio activity in their lives. But we don’t. The data alone of how unhealthy our nation is proving that point. And the overwhelming impact the poor health of our nation has had during the covid pandemic drives home the even broader effect of not living a healthy active lifestyle can have on a person’s mortality.

Cardiovascular Disease - You should be concerned!

Full disclosure, I’m a cardiovascular disease phobic. I was two feet from my 52-year-old father when he died of a massive heart attack. My mother has had high blood pressure for years and was extremely lucky to live through a terrible car accident when she passed out while driving because her heart rate dropped into the ’30s. As it turned out she required a pacemaker. So my genetics do not allow me to ignore having a consistently healthy level of physical activity and not be concerned that my genes will follow a predetermined path. And most of the time, you don’t see heart disease coming. It just hits in a split second.

Cardio Exercise Saves Lives!

So let’s get to the story. Someone I know well had an infection that made its way into his heart. The reaction of the heart was to slow down this individual’s heart rate. Eventually, it became obvious this person needed medical care. By the time medical care was being administered the heart rate was at the widowmaker level of 19 BEATS PER MINUTE. The normal number of times a person needs their heart to beat to get enough blood and oxygen to the body is somewhere over the 50 beats per minute mark. A heart rate of 19 beats per minute is sure death. However, this individual has been committed to a healthy lifestyle including regular cardiovascular exercise designed to specifically strengthen their heart muscle for a long period of time. And it was because of this effort and the resulting strength of his heart, that enough blood was being pumped out on each beat to keep him alive until medical intervention took over. While the numbers would say this was a miracle, I say man makes his own miracles. Had this individual lived a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle as a large number of our population does, I would not have this story to tell.

So yes maybe cardio is boring or confusing but it’s critical to your health, which is why I spent 6 years perfecting a cardio coaching system. To ensure that anyone that goes through the program comes out the other side knowing exactly what kind and, how much physical activity they should be doing to give themselves that fighting chance to live a long healthy life.