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The start of a new year represents a fresh start, and many of us turn our attention to resolutions aimed at forming new healthy habits—but how often do we think about our heart health?
We spoke to Emily McGrath, a senior cardiac nurse at the hospital. British Heart Foundationwho explains how staying active and participating in the sports you love in 2026 can have a huge impact on your cardiovascular health.
Why is exercise so important for our heart health?
“Your heart is a muscle, so you want to get it going, and anything that gets your heart rate up will do that,” McGrath said. “From a cardiovascular perspective, exercise helps lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart and circulatory disease.
“It can also help you maintain a healthy weight, which is important because it can help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.”
Staying active is also a great way to relieve stress.
“Exercise is really good for stress management and good for mental health,” McGrath noted.pressure It goes hand in hand with people being more likely to develop bad habits, such as not eating properly and not doing any exercise, so we want people to stay active as much as possible. “
What types of activities are particularly good for heart health?
“Aerobic exercise and strength training are both very important,” says the cardiac nurse. “We all want to get our heart rate up while also building muscle strength.
“National guidelines recommend more than 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise, which means you’re out of breath but still able to talk.”
She also stressed the importance of staying active as cardiovascular problems tend to be more common in later life.
“As you age, your cholesterol and blood pressure may increase, and you are more likely to have heart problems,” McGrath said. “So it’s important to exercise and take care of your heart health at any age because it can have a huge impact in the long run.”
Here are 5 fun activities designed to help you boost your heart health in 2026…
1. walk
“Moderate-intensity exercise covers a range of different exercise options, such as walking,” says McGrath. “What makes walking so great is you’re constantly walking with other people, and I think that really helps motivate people.”
this British Heart Foundation Already launched Walking for the Heart Challenge The event encourages people to enjoy the benefits of walking and raises funds for life-saving research this February.
“We encourage people to participate and walk 28, 50 or 100 miles in February,” McGrath said. “You can do it over a weekend or break it into smaller daily chunks.”
2. Swimming
“Swimming is great because it’s a full-body workout but low-impact,” McGrath said. “As people age, they can develop problems with their joints and a lot of exercise becomes very challenging for them, but when you swim in the water, it’s not weight-bearing, so it gives you a full-body workout without putting additional stress on injuries or joint problems. So swimming is a great aerobic exercise that doesn’t increase that risk.”
3. Cycling
“Cycling is great because it gets your heart rate up. You get aerobic exercise while building strength,” says the cardiology nurse. “It’s also a good thing for people because, similar to swimming, there’s less impact on the joints.”
4. Dance class
“Dance is a really fun aerobic exercise that gets your heart rate up,” McGrath says. “In class Zumbawhere you also do some power elements, but they’re disguised as dance moves. So you might be doing squats, but it’s part of a dance move. It’s so much fun that you often don’t feel like you’re exercising. “
Exercising in a group setting is also more engaging.
“A lot of people don’t like to exercise on their own, and group classes provide a sense of belonging and fun, which I think is really important,” the cardiac nurse said.
5.Strength training
“Strength-based exercises help improve your overall health because the stronger you are, the better your balance is, the better your core strength is, and the more capable you are of exercising and doing more to get your heart rate up,” says McGrath. “This is about improving your overall strength and making yourself more capable of doing more aerobic activity.”
You can strength train with your own body weight, weights, or resistance bands—it depends on what works for you.
“You don’t have to go out and spend a ton of money on equipment. You can do things like heel raises, sit-to-stands or glute bridges at home with little or no equipment,” McGrath says. “Some people really like resistance bands because they can help stretch and challenge your muscles.”
The British Heart Foundation is encouraging everyone to take part in the virtual ‘Walk for Hearts’ fundraising challenge and walk 28, 50 or 100 miles this February to help fund life-saving research. access bhf.org.uk/walkforhearts