Your heart is a muscular mass that can literally change shape as a result of the lifestyle choices you make every day. Some prime examples:
Inactivity
Be wary of how often you're parked on your butt: Too much sitting around can trigger the growth of pericardial fat, a type of gooey buildup that gloms onto your heart (and ups your heart disease risk). Exercise alone won't budge this pudge, so it's not enough to hit the gym after a long sedentary day at your desk (or a weekend movie marathon). You need to spend less overall time on your rear to reverse or avoid the damage.
Smoking
Puffing cigs ups your risk for atherosclerosis, which can contract and clog your arteries, the pipes that carry blood away from your heart. Blocked arteries can spell reduced blood flow and higher blood pressure, making your heart work overtime (and, as a result, depriving most of your organs of fuel). A single cigarette--or, ugh, breathing in secondhand smoke--can hurt the heart; just say never-ever to lighting up.
Exercise
Just one 30-minute, heart-pounding workout beefs up the tiny blood vessels, or capillaries, on the heart's surface. The more active and robust your capillaries are, the more blood flow your heart can handle--and the stronger it will become over time. (In other words, it will grow just like any other muscle.) Aim for at least 2.5 hours of weekly cardio exercise to make sure your capillaries stay nice and plump.
From Women's Health Magazine
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