Swimming and heart disease: contraindications and benefits. Is swimming good for the heart and cardiovascular system? How swimming affects blood vessels and blood

The situation when the heart hurts after training is rare for young people, however, with age, complaints of chest pain associated with power loads, are becoming quite common.

The cause of the pain symptom is most often not cardiac (non-heart) in nature, but in some cases the symptom may indicate a coronary problem, especially in people over 40 years of age, smokers and those with a family history of cardiovascular accidents.

The heart muscle works constantly and produces 60–70 contractions per minute in the so-called “resting state” (that is, when we do not move). During physical activity, the need of organs and tissues for oxygen and other nutrients increases, which leads to an increase in heart rate by 2 times or even more. For the heart, which, remember, is a muscular “bag” that receives blood from some vessels and pushes it into others, this is not a problem.

The so-called cardio exercises, which primarily include running, swimming, cycling, have a beneficial effect on metabolic processes in the heart and vascular wall, train and strengthen them.

The reader may ask a completely reasonable question: if a rapid heartbeat has such a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system, then what is the cause of pain in the heart after exercise? It is impossible to answer this question in one word. However, by certain signs you can understand whether the heart hurts or not.

When we talk about the fact that the heart hurts during or after training, then this requires the presence of a complex of the following symptoms:

(i.e. in the center of the chest) with impact to the left side of the chest or in the center of the back with impact under the left shoulder blade;
possible irradiation into left hand and shoulder, neck, lower jaw;
the pain is paroxysmal, appears during prolonged exercise and recedes when the intensity of exercise decreases (i.e., the heart hurts not after exercise, but during it);
panicky feeling of fear;
dizziness, sudden “perspiration”, feeling of weakness.

It should be noted that heart pain is special; it really cannot be confused with other pains. It is accompanied by a sharp and panicky fear, uncontrollable, sudden, physiological, it cannot be overcome by willpower. At the moment of heart pain, a person instinctively freezes and stops any activities.

So, if your “heart” hurts during or after training, but the indicated symptoms are absent, then this is most likely non-cardiac pain.

In most cases, the reason why there is pain in the left half of the chest is, i.e., compression and pinching of nerve fibers. This condition may be caused by:

osteochondrosis (very common);
intervertebral hernia;
organ tumors chest.

Principles for maintaining a healthy heart

After training

As noted above, heart pain caused by coronary insufficiency against the background of increased workload is usually paroxysmal. It lasts 1–3 minutes and subsides after reducing the intensity of the load.

If your heart hurts after training, this may indicate:

about complete occlusion of the lumen of the coronary artery and an impending heart attack;
about a non-cardiac cause.

A distinctive feature of a heart attack is acute and sharp pain, increasing in intensity, paroxysmal, which is accompanied by panic. In this state, a person’s activity decreases, up to the impossibility of independent movement.

Chest pain after training, which is not accompanied by the above symptoms, obviously has a neuralgic cause and is most likely associated with overload of the spine during training, with compression of the nerve pathways in the muscles. Neuralgic pain is characterized by:

even intensity;
lack of increasing dynamics;
attacks are associated with body movements or changes in its position;
duration (can last for hours).

After strength training

Heart pain after strength training can be explained by the fact that, unlike those types of physical activities that are usually classified as cardio exercises, when “swinging” or powerlifting, the load does not increase gradually, but sharply.

For example, each approach to the barbell causes the heart to sharply increase the frequency and strength of contractions, which sharply increases the need of the heart muscle for oxygen. As a result, the cardiovascular system does not have time to adapt, and it needs a certain time to do this. Under certain conditions (coronary spasm, mechanical compression of the chest organs), such a sharp increase in demand can initiate angina pain.

In addition, the appearance of heart pain after exercise is often associated with excessive load on the spine. Whatever exercise you do - bench press, squat with a barbell, etc. - all this puts maximum load on the vertebrae and, more importantly, the discs located between them.

It should be remembered that lifting heavy objects is not intended by the design of the spine and can cause harm to it. In this case, spinal pain successfully imitates cardiac pain.

Running is the most natural load on the human body, the intensity of which increases gradually, which is good for the heart and blood vessels. As with any cardio activity, during running the heart muscle needs an increased supply of nutrients. The appearance of pain in this case may indicate limited capacity of the coronary vessels due to their atherosclerosis.

Cases where the heart hurts after or during cardio training require a visit to a cardiologist for consultation, since early detection of cardiac ischemia provides best opportunities for therapy.

What to do if you have heart pain after training?

If discomfort appears in the chest, it is necessary to reduce the load, this should be done immediately after the condition worsens. The intensity of classes must correspond to the capabilities of cardio-vascular system.
Pain in the heart after physical activity requires careful attention to your body. Sometimes it hurts in the chest when exercising on a certain type of exercise equipment, when performing certain exercises. It is necessary to monitor your condition during training and draw conclusions about which exercises and exercise equipment should be excluded.
Increasing the pace and intensity of exercise should be done gradually so that the heart muscle can adapt to new conditions.

Useful video

For more information about changes in the heart during exercise, watch the following video:

Conclusion

Anyone, especially someone who regularly plays sports, should be wary if their heart hurts after a workout. What to do in this case is to reduce the intensity of the load and visit a doctor for a personal consultation.
People involved in sports should be aware that any physical activity leads to increased production of endorphins, which, among other things, increase the pain threshold.
If your heart hurts after the gym, it is important not to ignore it. Even painful sensations not very intense, they can indicate an existing problem, the earlier detection of which will provide a better prognosis for the future.

Athletes often have heart pain after training. This worries people and makes them wonder what could be causing this symptom. Factors can be various phenomena, including serious pathologies, so it is important to consult a doctor. It may not be possible to continue physical activity.

How does pain manifest itself?

It is impossible to say unequivocally why your heart hurts after training. To do this, you need to undergo an examination of the organ. The culprits may be pathologies and other factors that have no connection with human health.

It is important to distinguish between heart pain, because it is different from other types of pain syndrome. If your heart hurts after training, then a person experiences the following symptoms:

Pain in the heart area, in the middle of the sternum, which can radiate to other parts of the body located on the left.
The pain is paroxysmal, occurs after a long physical activity, disappears some time after stopping classes.
A feeling of panic when a person is afraid that he will die.
Dizziness, general weakness.

Heart pain is special, so it cannot be confused with other syndromes. It always appears unexpectedly and is accompanied by panic, so a person instinctively freezes when pain occurs.

Pain after running

Why does pain occur after training?

Why the heart hurts after physical activity among skiers, runners and ordinary sports fans is difficult to say without examination. These can be diseases related to the heart, and not related to it. The symptom may occur due to coronary heart disease, angina pectoris and other pathologies of the cardiovascular system.

Attacks of pain after swimming and other stress due to such ailments can stop on their own or after taking Nitroglycerin. Sometimes after running, cycling, swimming, or doing push-ups, a person can have a heart attack. This will be indicated by a sudden acute pain, which is accompanied by panic and intensifies over time. With this manifestation, the patient freezes in one position and cannot move further until the pain subsides.

Pain in the chest area can occur after cycling and other physical activity due to neuralgia. For example: if a person tries to do more push-ups than the body can bear, then he becomes overloaded or the nerve endings in the muscle tissue are compressed.

If pain in the heart after physical activity occurs due to neuralgia, then it is of moderate intensity, duration, does not intensify, and appears due to certain movements or changes in body position. The symptom may last 2 hours or may continue into the next day.

Why does it hurt after strength training?

Pain in the heart after strength training gym, for example: after push-ups, occurs because the load increases sharply, and not gradually.

When an athlete lifts a barbell, the heart contracts sharply, which requires a large amount of oxygen to the muscle. The heart and blood vessels cannot quickly get used to the load; this takes more time, which is why pain occurs.

Strength exercises load the spine. This causes pain in the chest. Pain syndrome appears after bench press in the gym, after push-ups, squats with a barbell and other similar loads. Pain in the spine can easily be confused with heart pain if you do not know the characteristics of pain in the heart.

Worsening after strength training

Discomfort after yoga

Yoga – useful activity, which allows you to heal the body, eliminating many pathologies. But sometimes people are bothered by pain from exercise. Most often it occurs in the lower back, neck, knees, and wrists. Sometimes discomfort appears in the chest area. When doing yoga, you cannot continue training if your heart begins to hurt.

The cause of pain when performing asanas can be physical stress. Perhaps this or that yoga pose is simply not suitable for a person, or the intensity of the exercise is too high, and the body is not yet used to it. What to do in this case?

Then you need to make your training easier, try changing asanas. Be sure to consult with your instructor. He will tell you what to do. Sometimes people start doing this sport incorrectly, trying to take on difficult exercises. This leads to overload of the body and pain in different parts of it during training, including the heart.

Chest pain occurs if a person has had injuries in this area. The symptom manifests itself in diseases of the cardiovascular system. Before practicing yoga, it is necessary to undergo an examination so that the classes do not cause harm.

Yoga classes

What to do if you have pain?

Heart pain after fitness, parallel bars, cycling and other physical activities can be relieved with the help of special medications. But first, visit a doctor to make sure the cause of the pain syndrome.

Depending on what caused the unpleasant symptom, treatment may vary. Pathologies of the heart and other organs of the chest require serious therapy; neuralgia goes away on its own or is relieved with the help of medications.

Prescription of treatment by a doctor

Those who want to train need to understand that the body needs to get used to the loads, so training should become more difficult gradually. It is important to make sure that a person does not have ailments that are contraindications to playing sports.

What to do if you have pain in the heart after drinking alcohol, characteristic symptoms

You can swim? Swimming in the sea and swimming in a pool are a little different, but unfortunately not everyone has access to salt water year-round. The pool is a great place to relieve fatigue and get a boost of energy! And it is he who will help get rid of ten diseases! Look what!

Swim, take care of yourself, smile more often and!

1. Neuroses

When swimming, water affects nerve endings throughout the entire surface of the body, relaxing and calming. The influence of water temperature regulates the processes of excitation and inhibition, relieves fatigue, improves memory and attention by improving blood circulation in the brain.

All this has a beneficial effect on the central one - after swimming a person falls asleep easier and sleeps more soundly.

In addition, water evokes pleasant associations that are missing in everyday life, which has a beneficial effect on the psycho-emotional state in general.

2. Joint diseases (osteochondrosis, arthritis, arthrosis)

In many cases, swimming is the only sport and physical activity that is indicated for joint diseases, since in water a person does not feel the weight of his body.

Smooth movements in the water massage the periarticular tissues, thereby improving the outflow of lymph, reducing swelling, regenerating cartilage tissue, and relaxing spasmodic muscles.

3. Herniated discs

According to statistics, today for every 100 thousand people there are 100 cases of intervertebral disc herniation. In many cases, swimming in the pool helps a person cure this disease without surgery.

Exercising in the pool allows you to strengthen your back muscles, which ultimately take on part of the load, thereby unloading the damaged one.

4. Paralysis and partial loss of the ability to move

The main manifestation of paralysis is the absence or decrease in voluntary motor activity, as a result of which a person loses the ability to walk and make active movements. Therefore, swimming is practically the only option for physical activity.

Swimming is also an effective means of preventing strokes, which often lead to paralysis. Swimming helps normalize vascular tone and pressure, and also effectively fights obesity, which is also the cause of arterial hypertension (the cause of stroke).

5. Rehabilitation after injuries

According to statistics, every eighth inhabitant of the planet receives a serious injury at least once during his life in the form of fractures, back injuries, meniscus tears and other knee injuries. Most injuries lead to surgery, after which the human body requires recovery.

Swimming in the pool helps rapid recovery muscle paravertebral frame, restores muscle tone and reduces pain, which allows you to expand your motor range.

6. Obesity, excess weight

Swimming for obesity puts a simultaneous load on all muscles, but at the same time completely removes it from the spine and leg joints, compared to any “land” physical activity, because water provides the effect of weightlessness.

In addition, swimming, water aerobics and even just swimming are very beneficial for the cardiovascular system (a big problem for obese people): blood circulation improves, blood flow goes to all internal organs, while the outflow of blood from the periphery also improves, and blood pressure stabilizes.

7. Heart disease

Swimming is effective means treatment and prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as: hypertension, angina pectoris, vegetative-vascular dystonia, atherosclerotic vascular lesions.

The use of swimming for the treatment and prevention of diseases of the cardiovascular system makes it possible to reduce the load on the body from the use of chemicals, and sometimes even abandon them altogether.

8. Bronchitis and bronchial asthma

Swimming is both breathing exercises, and massage, and also has its own effect on our respiratory system. Pool exercises are recommended for all patients with bronchopulmonary pathology, and swimming is excellent for prevention and improvement of functional indicators respiratory system, as well as the resistance of the whole organism.

For people suffering from pathology of the bronchopulmonary apparatus, it is not only advisable, but vitally necessary to engage in swimming.

9. Varicose veins

Patients with varicose veins are prohibited from many strength exercises in the gym, running and intense aerobics, as this leads to increased stress on the legs, which contributes to an increase in venous pressure in lower limbs. This leads to the development and worsening of varicose veins.

Training in the pool, in turn, does not have such consequences. During swimming, due to the body being in horizontal position, there is an outflow of blood from the legs, and there is also a decrease in the load on the legs compared to other sports. Swimming has a beneficial effect on the veins, providing them with relaxation and normal blood circulation.

10. Poor posture

Poor posture is a common health problem in children. If in the elementary grades poor posture is registered only in every fifteenth child, then by the time they graduate from school it occurs in half of the children.

During swimming, the human body is in a weightless state, due to which the gravitational loads on the spine are reduced.

At the same time, it stimulates the strengthening of the muscular corset of the spinal column, harmonizes the tone of the paravertebral muscles, muscles of the chest and lower back. Swimming develops coordination of movements, which largely suffers in children with poor posture.

The function of the cardiovascular system is to transport nutrients and oxygen to all tissues and organs. Thanks to this, normal metabolism is possible. The blood vessels and heart are responsible for blood flow, the regulatory function of the body, as well as for all processes of the immune mechanism.

In diseases of the cardiovascular system, the work of all vital organs is disrupted, oxygen in required quantity does not arrive, nutrients are not absorbed. Such problems lead to serious complications and deterioration of well-being. Therefore, every person needs to strengthen his heart, blood vessels, and maintain health. This can only be achieved with regular physical activities, proper nutrition and refusal bad habits. One of best options training for diseases of the cardiovascular system is swimming.

The Positive Impact of Swimming

Regular training in the pool brings great benefit for the body with diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

The special position of the body in water (horizontal) facilitates easy blood flow through the arteries to the human organs.
Due to the increased density of water, the pressure on the body is distributed almost under gravity conditions, thus, blood flow to the heart becomes easier, which has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system as a whole.
When swimming, rhythmic muscle contraction occurs, breathing is normalized (it becomes deeper and more uniform), which also facilitates blood flow and improves the functioning of an important organ (the removal of metabolic products is improved, the risk of stagnation of lymph and blood is reduced).
Proper breathing in water helps internal massage and heart training (as you inhale, the lungs noticeably increase in size and exert gentle pressure on the heart muscle).
The function of blood vessels and the heart improves in the absence of muscle tension in static water.

The effect of swimming on the heart

Systematic exercises in the pool increase the functional capacity of the heart, normalizing muscle contractions, optimizing energy consumption:

to improve the exchange of nutrients between organs and tissues, increase blood volume, are optimally suited high intensity training in a swimming pool.
reduction in the frequency of contractions of the heart muscle: the lower the heart rate at rest, the more economically the heart works. This reduces the rate of muscle wear and increases the volume of cardiac tissue. For an average person with an average level of training, the resting heart rate ranges from 55 to 100 beats per minute. U professional athletes The heart rate in a calm position does not exceed 60 beats in 60 seconds. With regular training in the pool, your heart rate gradually decreases.
increased endurance: pulse, the volume of blood that circulates through the vessels per minute, systolic blood pressure increase slightly with systematic training in the pool. Thus, endurance increases, and even during difficult exercises, a trained person can easily bear the load.

The effect of swimming on blood vessels

The condition of blood vessels improves noticeably when swimming:

The elasticity of blood vessels and their ability to contract improves, vascular walls become stronger, and metabolism in vascular tissues is normalized. Thus, the risk of cholesterol deposits is significantly reduced. Swimming effectively affects the condition of the venous walls, therefore it is recommended for varicose veins veins
Exercises in the pool help dilate the arteries (increase the diameter of blood vessels), which helps normalize blood pressure.
improvement of peripheral blood flow (lateral branches of blood vessels), which leads to an increase in the capillary bed in organs and normalizes nutrient metabolism.

The effect of swimming on blood composition

Exercising in the pool has a beneficial effect on blood composition. In water, an increase in blood cells occurs, and the maximum value of the indicators occurs 1.5-2 hours after exercise. Regular visits to the pool help improve blood composition for a long time.

Swimming has a positive effect on the entire body as a whole, improving the functioning of the heart (increasing its efficiency and power), normalizing blood circulation in peripheral blood vessels, stabilizing the metabolic function between tissues and organs. Swimming plays an important role in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Pool exercises are also shown as a preventive measure for heart and vascular diseases, reducing the risk of developing pathologies and complications.

Swimming in Baku

If you are interested in swimming lessons in Baku, swimming for children in Baku, Children's swimming pool in Baku, swimming for adults in Baku, therapeutic swimming in Baku, professional swimming in Baku, then contact us.