February is American Heart Health Month

It’s no great revelation that the way to a healthy heart is exercise. The gap between knowing it and doing is the problem for most people. Stymied by not knowing what to do, where to start and busy schedules, men and women all over this country aren’t getting the exercise they need to keep heart disease at bay. As a Koko FitClub member, you know firsthand how, by removing these roadblocks to cardiovascular fitness, Koko is changing this not-so-heart-healthy scenario 30 minutes at a time.

As American Heart Month comes to a close, here are a few reasons your heart is happier because you Koko:

1. When you strength train at Koko FitClub, your heart is one of the muscles getting stronger. Koko Smartraining is circuit-based strength training that keeps you moving from exercise to exercise without rest. This elevates your heart rate which, over time, improves its efficiency. Research has shown as much as a 7-15% increase in aerobic capacity through circuit based strength training programs like Koko. (It also has the added benefit of expending more calories than traditional strength training!)
2. Strength training on a regular basis lowers your blood pressure. This is amazing news you may not have heard about strength training and heart health. A study published in the fall of 2010 in the peer-reviewed  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research concluded that regular resistance training, three times a week on the Koko Smartrainer for instance, resulted in as much as a 20% decrease in study participant’s blood pressure! Those results are as good- if not better- than what is seen through use of blood pressure lowering medications- without the side effects.
3. You don’t need to spend 30 minutes a pop on the tread mill to strengthen your heart. Cardiovascular exercise, like Koko Cardio workouts, have long been recommended by the American Heart Association to decrease cardiovascular risk. It’s not new news. But do you still think you need to spend at least 30 minutes on the tread mill to improve your heart health? You don’t at Koko FitClub. Koko Cardio programs are interval-based tread mill and elliptical workouts that alternate between high intensity bouts and active recovery periods. The result? Programs that do a better job getting your heart stronger and expending calories than typical, hit-the-green-start-button-and-go cardio workouts- in half the time.

So what are signs your Koko Smartraining workouts are actually improving your aerobic fitness?  How do you really know your heart is getting healthier?

• You will be able to exercise at intensities that you could not before
• You will able to work out for longer periods of time at specific intensities
• The pace at which your heart rate drops post exercise increases. From its peak beats per minute (BPM), if your heart rate drops 20 BPM within a minute of beginning your cool down– that’s a good sign of a strong heart.
• Your resting heart rate lowers. (Ideally, a resting heart rate is taken first thing in the morning before you get out of bed.)

I promise you, consistently getting to Koko FitClub-  at least three days a week- will result in incredible changes in your heart health as well as your overall health. It is as simple as that. And with Koko, exercising your way to a healthy heart really is simple.  Now there’s nothing standing in your way of “getting it done!”

I’ll leave you today with a few member heart health success stories. And, if you have one to share, post a comment!

Michael Wood, CSCS
Chief Fitness Officer
Koko FitClub

Ed B
Houma, LA
“I’ve had high blood pressure for at least 15 years, but since March 1, 2010 my blood pressure has been normal without medication. Not only do I feel and look better, but I’ll save money without the medication. Thanks!”

Kelly
Danville. CA
“So here I am, about a month into my membership at Koko, and I have the first piece of good news to report: My overall cholesterol is down 9 points (into normal, I was on the borderline.) My good cholesterol (HDL) is up 5 points (still normal, but now approaching beneficial.) My bad cholesterol (LDL) is down 39 points! (into borderline, I was high and the doctor was considering medication for me…not anymore!) My doctor basically said, ‘WOW – what did you do?’ She said it is really unusual to make a significant change in these numbers with exercise and diet alone, (i.e. no medication,) especially in such a short time. All thanks to Koko – yeah!!”

Don Birdwell
Belle Meade, TN
“My doctor is…amazed. My resting heart rate averages about 53, my blood pressure averages 88/60 without medication. No more Lipitor for my cholesterol. which is now under 120 total. My triglycerides have dropped from over 300 to 58.”