KEY POINTS:
Have heart problems? Go to the gym and start lifting weights.
Overturning conventional wisdom that people with heart disease should not pump iron, the American Heart Association says some weight training can be good for them.
"Just like we once learned that people with heart disease benefited from aerobic exercise, we are now learning that guided, moderate weight training also has significant benefits," said Mark Williams, professor of medicine at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska.
Weight training was seen as complementary to aerobic exercise, not as a replacement, he said. But it gave everyday benefits.
"It helps people better perform tasks of daily living - like lifting bags of groceries," Professor Williams said.
Weight training is not recommended for people with unstable heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure or heart rhythm disorders, infections in and around the heart, and some other serious problems.
For those able to do it, the benefits of weight training included increased muscle mass, which can help in weight control.
"Patients are often apprehensive about returning to this type of activity, or doing things that might be perceived as strenuous. Now we know that they can return to the active things they enjoy doing," Professor Williams said.
- REUTERS
