The one muscle you’re not training.

Bodybuilding is an interesting sport. You can’t go home and shed your gear and just relax. Unlike cycling, football, and most other sports, your gear is your body. You’re constantly wearing your war suit, it’s a part of you, literally. With that being said, you have to think what that war suit is weighing on. Your heart is the one thing that never stops going. Your brain, your muscles, they all get rest and restoration when you sleep while your heart is left burning the mid-night oil. So let’s just say it’s good to be kind to your coronary – and we’ll show you how, in 10 easy steps.

Sex

Who says save the best for last? A study in American Journal of Cardiology  says that men who have sex once a month or less have a 45 % higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than men who have sex 2 to 3 times per week. So next time your partner says no – tell them to do it for your health.

Keep The Beat

Logging your beats per minute every morning can save your life. According to Theodore, M.D., vice chairman of the medical advisory board at Grand Rounds, taking a minute every morning to log your  beats per minute (bpm) can tell a lot about your state of health. A pulse under 70 (bpm) is healthy. Any more than that you might want to consult your physician.

Hand Grips

Nope, we didn’t make this one up. According to a meta-analysis in the Journal of Hypertension – training handgrips for as little as 4 weeks can lower your blood pressure by 10%. Try four two-minute contractions with each hand. Rest for about a minute in between.

Eggs Eggs Good for Your Heart

With all the talk about eggs (are they good for you? Should you only eat the whites?) brazilian researches have finally put the controversy to bed. according to researchers eggs actually give you clearer coronary arteries.

Don’t Cheat Your Squats

Busted. Other than just being douchey – there’s now a new and very dire reason not to cheat your squats. While exercise in general raises your good cholesterol (HDL) squats are considered the superset of raising HDL because it targets the major muscles on the body. But all squats are not created equal, according to Dr. Santora full squats activate more muscle fibers than half or quarter squats.

BONUS: Relax

While there are many activities you can do and foods you can eat to achieve the ideal heart rate. Ultimately the best thing you can do is relax. Go for a walk on a sunny day, take your headphones out on your walk to and from the train, give yourself some peace and quiet. If Ronnie Coleman’s recent health issues have taught us anything is that there’s a time to potate, and a time to  be a coach potato. Both have their place.