The muscles within the chest region hold the same significance as the muscles on its surface.
It can be easy to overlook the fact that your heart is a muscle, much like the muscles that form your limbs. Similar to these muscles, your heart reaps rewards from consistent physical activity. The goal of elevating your heart rate during workouts isn’t merely to enhance blood circulation to your extremities; it also aims to fortify your heart and boost its resistance to stress.
Practically speaking, any workout that increases your heart rate is conducive to heart health, but if you wish to make an additional effort, you can engage in specialized chest exercises that directly focus on the muscles of your heart. Surprisingly, you might already be doing them; one of the most effective exercises for heart health is the basic plank.
Supporting your body weight with your core compels your heart to continuously supply blood to your extremities, thereby keeping it beating almost constantly. This is why planks can be particularly challenging for individuals with weaker endurance; the heart must operate at peak capacity to ensure smooth functioning.
If you prefer a more rigorous challenge to get your heart racing during planks, you can incorporate variations. Instead of maintaining a static position in a traditional plank, experiment with dynamic movements in a bear plank or a pike plank. By doing this, even amidst a prolonged plank hold, you’ll keep your heart on its toes, preventing it from adapting and hitting a plateau. Experiment with all three plank variations together, and you’ll truly give your heart a vigorous workout. However, remember not to push yourself too hard, or you may find yourself stuck on the floor for a while post-workout.
