Exercise to Reduce High Cholesterol

Work it out

Most doctors recommend that patients who have high cholesterol levels try to control their cholesterol by making diet and lifestyle changes. The lifestyle change at the top of their lists is always making time for exercise.

Reducing high cholesterol levels is important, because it reduces the risk of heart disease. Every time cholesterol levels drop by one percent, a patient’s risk of heart disease drops by two percent. Studies also show that diet and lifestyle changes could eliminate the need for high blood pressure medication in 97 percent of the people who take it (however, if you are trying to get off of any medication, make sure to check with your doctor first – often it is not safe to suddenly stop taking a medication that your body has grown to depend on).

Exercising to Reduce High Cholesterol

Method

• Exercise several days a week for at least 30 minutes at a time.
• If possible, exercise every day for 60 minutes. If you do exercise every day, try to alternate different exercises that work different parts of the body on different days. For example, you could do an aerobic exercise, like bicycling or walking, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and do yoga on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Or you might like to add a strength-building, weight-lifting day every third day. Come up with a schedule that works well for you and that you enjoy, and then stick with it.
• If you are in good health and your doctors okays it, opt for a more intense and vigorous form of exercise, rather than a more mild and moderate one. More vigorous exercise will lower cholesterol faster than milder exercise will. But, if you are not in good health, and mild exercise is the best you can do, do not be discouraged – any form of exercise will help and will gradually cause you to become stronger and able to take on a more vigorous workout.

Why It Works

Exercising regularly helps people to lose weight, if they need to, or to maintain a healthy weight if they already have one. Obesity is one of the risk factors for high cholesterol levels. For obese people, losing even five or ten pounds can lower total cholesterol levels significantly.

Exercise also stimulates the body to produce enzymes that help to move cholesterol out of the blood and into the liver, where it can be converted into bile, for digestion, or excreted. The more you exercise, the more cholesterol your body releases.

Precautions

You should always check with your doctor before beginning a new form of exercise. Start slowly and gradually build up the intensity of the exercise and the length of time that you exercise.

More Remedies

• Click here for all High Cholesterol remedies