Those who have been under the impression that heart disease sufferers cannot exercise are mistaken. In fact, cardiovascular patients who lack exercise may experience muscle atrophy, body weakness, and recovery issues.
Heart and Exercise
Some heart patients are afraid that exercising might lead to heart muscle failure, which usually stems from heart complications. However, regular exercise has been found to be beneficial for this group, reducing the contraction of coronary arteries, increasing capillaries in the heart, and helping in controlling cholesterol levels and body weight. Indirectly, it improves insulin response. Exercise is therefore beneficial for stable heart disease patients. Those who have not exercised before should consult a doctor first on what kind of exercise to do, its risks, and what is feasible or not.
Whether heart patients can exercise depends on whether they have heart disease and their risk levels. Those with heart disease should consult a cardiologist or a cardiac rehabilitation doctor to see if they can start exercising. Another group includes people with various risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, or a family history of heart disease. They should monitor for any heart abnormalities. If after assessment symptoms are normal, they can exercise as it acts as a preventive medicine for the recurrence and rehabilitation of diseases both directly and indirectly.
Aerobic Exercise for Heart Patients
Cardiovascular patients should perform aerobic exercises, which are not intense but continuous, utilizing large muscle groups, such as walking or light jogging, cycling for more than 30 minutes, and strength training like weight lifting or circuit training for more than 30 minutes a day, 5 – 7 days a week. This moderate-level exercise will slightly increase fatigue but will still allow for conversational speech.
Post-Heart Surgery Patients and Exercise
For patients who have recently undergone heart surgery, it is recommended to be under the care of a specialist in cardiac rehabilitation or a physiotherapist because
- Phase 1 may involve the risk of complications during exercise, which needs to be assessed individually for heart rhythm problems or re-narrowing of arteries. Monitoring tools might be necessary during exercise, like heart rate monitoring, fingertip pulse oximetry, pulse checking, and blood pressure measurements.
- Phase 2 covers the first 1 – 3 months post-surgery when returning to normal life at home but still requires check-ups or some hospital-based exercises, especially for high-risk patients. If the patient’s condition is normal, daily exercise is recommended.
- Phase 3 after 3 months, usually presents fewer problems but still requires caution for complications.
Exercise is like medicine that must be continued for long-term results and disease prevention. For elderly patients who cannot walk for an extended time, Interval Training is recommended. As the body strengthens, the duration can be adjusted to Continuous Training.
“After exercising, patients will start feeling less fatigued. Initially, there may be some tiredness due to initial rehabilitation, leading to a decline in performance. However, as we rehabilitate, muscular endurance will improve before anything else, making it easier to walk, followed by improved lung and heart performance. But if exercise leads to abnormal symptoms such as chest pain, palpitations, nausea, or vomiting, it’s important to seek medical attention immediately.”
Exercise acts as another form of disease prevention, stopping recurrence. The best treatment is prevention, making exercise, besides diet control and managing risk factors, a necessary part of maintaining health, reducing medication intake, and lessening the strain on the liver and kidneys. Exercise is not an option but a necessity for everyone who wants good health, including heart disease patients.
A 50-year-old patient with acute coronary syndrome was afraid to exercise after heart surgery, lying idle for 2 months and becoming less capable due to the deconditioning that occurs when we stay inactive, leading to muscle weakness. Making it back to standing or walking can make one feel easily tired and unrefreshed. But after starting with small, gradual rehabilitation steps and then increasing the pace and duration of walking, the patient improved. After 1 – 2 months, they felt a significant improvement in their physical stamina, being able to walk farther.”
