It seems not all exercise leads to the same benefit to heart health. Based on research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Men's Health is featuring a type of exercise that might be more effective in the prevention of a heart attack or in surviving a heart attack comparative to other methods of exercise. In The Fastest Way to a Healthy Heart, speeding up and slowing down your heart through an intense series of interval exercise strengthens the heart more than the sustained steady exercise of say, riding a stationary bicycle for an hour.

After 23 years of tracking the heart rates of 5,713 healthy men who exercised on bikes, researchers found that men with the biggest ranges between their heart rates during intense exercise and at rest were four times less likely to suffer a heart attack. The Men's Health article offers a step-by-step intense interval work out -- you don't even need an exercise bike -- as part of the very informative article.