Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

After a heart attack, perhaps your heart can no longer maintain its inherent efficiency in pumping blood to feed your body. If you are treated in the emergency room within an hour of your heart attack, chances are that the damage will be significantly reduced and you may be able to return to your previous daily activities. However, it's a warning sign that unless you make a few lifestyle adjustments, you may face a heart attack or another complication. Exercise is one of the most important factors in heart disease, according to researchers. They also determined that people who participated in a certain exercise program after a heart attack achieved better results, were less hospitalized and had no illnesses for the following year.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Prepare for the practice

1. 

   
   
   Talk to your doctor. Make sure to get your doctor's permission before starting an exercise program. When the heart is damaged from lack of oxygen, it can take several weeks for it to recover and return to its optimal state. You will likely have to go through a pressure test before you leave the hospital - which will help your doctor see how much physical activity you can handle. In general, there is no universal timeframe for how long you will have to wait before you can practice. Your doctor will determine a specific timeframe based on your current health condition, the severity of your heart damage and pre-heart attack physical condition.
   • Your doctor will advise not to put pressure on the heart muscle with exercise or sex before they recover.

2. 

   
   
   Recognize the importance of exercise. Exercise enhances the strength of the heart muscle, improves efficiency in oxygen absorption, lowers blood pressure, stabilizes blood sugar, reduces the risk of diabetes and helps control stress, weight as well as lowers concentrations. your cholesterol. All of these factors will also help reduce the risk of another heart attack. Start the recovery process with an aerobic exercise or cardio exercise.
   • Anaerobic exercise is intense enough to trigger the formation of lactic acid, which can be stored in the heart. Anaerobic exercise is mainly used for sports that do not require endurance in order to increase strength, speed and energy. After a heart attack, you should avoid this type of practice.
   • The anaerobic threshold is the boundary between aerobic and anaerobic. Endurance athletes train to raise this threshold to be able to compete at high intensity while making sure lactic acid does not form.

3. 

   
   
   Carry out a cardiovascular rehabilitation program, if any. The rate of recovery from a heart attack is not the same for everyone. This rate is influenced by the amount of damaged heart muscle and previous physical health condition. During cardiovascular rehabilitation, doctors measure blood pressure and use an electrocardiogram to monitor an exercise program to prevent injury. Once you have completed six to 12 weeks of cardiovascular rehabilitation under your doctor's supervision, you may be allowed to continue the procedure at home.
   • Participants in a doctor-prescribed cardiovascular rehabilitation program or through a group will recover faster and have better results in the long term. Even so, only about 20% of patients meet the eligibility requirements for cardiovascular rehabilitation or exercise programs indicated after a heart attack. This figure is even lower for women and elderly patients.

4. 

   Learn to self-pulse. Take the pulse at the wrist position instead of the neck (carotid artery). You may unintentionally obstruct the carotid artery when you take it. Place the index and middle fingers (do not use the thumb as there are pulse on the thumb) of one hand on the other wrist, just below the thumb. Usually you should feel a pulse. Count the number of beats you feel in 10 seconds and multiply by six.
   • You should monitor your heart's pumping rate so you can keep your heart rate at the levels recommended by your doctor.
   • This will vary depending on age, weight, physical condition, and the amount of damage the heart has suffered.

5. 

   Talk to your doctor about sexual activity. Sex is a form of exercise. In many cases, after a heart attack, your doctor will ask you to wait two to three weeks before having sex. This timeframe depends on the level of damage to the heart and the results of the pressure test.
   • Your doctor will also decide whether you should wait more than three weeks.
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Part 2 of 3: Start training

1. 

   Before exercising, do muscle stretching exercises. Under your doctor's permission, you can start regular muscle relaxants right in the hospital. Try to stretch your muscles at least once a day to help prepare your body for exercise. Remember to relax and breathe through this process. To avoid injury, keep the joint slightly bent and never lock it. You should also avoid muscle pressure. Instead, gently stretch and hold for 10 to 30 seconds. Repeat three to four times.
   • Does not increase muscle strength or performance of the heart, but stretching strengthens the flexibility of the body, allowing you to perform various types of exercise more easily, improving balance and reduce muscle tension.

2. 

   Start an exercise program with walking. Whether it's a marathon runner before a heart attack or a long rest, your return training program will just start with walking. Warm up in three minutes. Then, gradually increase the speed at which breathing is heavier while sitting but still able to talk and talk. Maintain this speed for about 5 minutes. Increase by about one or two minutes each day until you reach 30 minutes of walking per day.
   • Walk with someone for the first few weeks and stay close to home, in case you become uncomfortable or have difficulty breathing. Remember to bring your cell phone with you to call home for help or to call 115 in an emergency.
   • Remember to relax after exercising.

3. 

   Be careful when increasing activity. Avoid strenuous activity for the first four to six weeks. The heart will need about 6 weeks to recover enough for moderate and heavy exercise, even when before that, your health is relatively good. Avoid activities similar to: lifting or pulling heavy objects, vacuuming, scrubbing, brushing, painting, running, cutting or suddenly moving too much. You can start with activities like walking the streets every few minutes, cooking, washing dishes, shopping, gardening and gentle cleaning.
   • Gradually increase the training time and intensity without letting through, becoming anaerobic form.
   • Be aware that the muscles in your arms and legs can ache for a few hours or a few days after at the beginning of the exercise program. Painful sensations should not appear in during practice.

4. 

   Gradually increase the exercise. As well as how to start a pre-heart training program, in this case, you'll also want to gradually increase your exercise time and intensity in order to reduce the risk of injury and maintain exercise motivation. Don't start increasing the time and intensity until your doctor has allowed you to walk for more than 30 minutes. It can take up to 12 weeks to take a comfortable brisk 30-minute walk, depending on the level of heart damage and previous physical condition.
   • Once you are comfortable with it every day, you can start incorporating other types of exercise, such as cycling, hiking, rowing, jogging or playing tennis.

5. 

   Check with your doctor before adding strength exercises. Most likely your doctor will not recommend starting a strength training program.
   • You can use dumbbells at home or a set of elastic bands to stand up or anchor to the door. Elastic strings can be used for both arms and legs, gradually increasing endurance and energy use.
   • To give your muscles time to recover between workouts, don't do strength training more than three times per week and wait at least 48 hours before starting your next workout.
   • Strength training will likely also get you back to your previous activity levels, such as mowing grass, playing with your grandchild, and carrying groceries. Strength training reduces the risk of being affected by lethargy and muscle inactivity.
   • Don't hold your breath while lifting weights or pulling on the elastic bands. That will increase the pressure on your chest and make your heart work harder.

6. 

   Stay active throughout the day. Once you practice, don't lie on a chair all day. Research shows that even if you practice for an hour a day, if you just sit to work or watch TV for the next eight hours, all the benefits of exercise will be lost. Instead, enrich your day by getting up and stretching or moving every 30 minutes. Get up to drink a glass of water, use the bathroom, stretch or walk around for five minutes. To increase movement, you can also:
   • Walk around or at least stand instead of sitting while talking on the phone.
   • Leave a glass of water at the other end of the room to force yourself to get up, go for a drink every 30 minutes.
   • Organize your space for more motivation to stand up and sit down throughout the day.
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Part 3 of 3: Watch out for warning signs

1. 

   Watch for signs that the heart is working too hard. If you experience chest pain, nausea, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, or difficulty breathing during exercise, stop immediately. Maybe the exercise is making the heart work too hard. Call your doctor or 115 if these symptoms do not go away right away. Carry nitroglycerin with you during exercise if prescribed. You should also write down what symptoms appeared, when they appeared during the day, when they last ate, how long the symptoms lasted, and how often they appeared.
   • Talk to your doctor about any other symptoms before continuing with your exercise program. Your doctor may want to do another pressure test before you get back to practice.

2. 

   Preventing accidents and injuries. Wear the right clothes and shoes for your exercise type. Stay hydrated and make sure someone knows where you go when you go out. Always maintain good judgment and don't go over your limits.
   • Continuing to exercise every day a little lighter than what you feel you can do is better than taking a few weeks off from an injury or being hospitalized again for another heart problem.

3. 

   Avoid exercising outside when the temperature is high or low. In very hot or very cold weather, the body has to work harder to deliver oxygen to cells, including the heart. Do not exercise outdoors if the temperature is lower than 1.7 ° C or higher than 29.5 ° C and the humidity is greater than 80%. advertisement

Advice

• Stay hydrated when exercising. Whether it's outdoors or in the gym, bring water with you and drink it regularly. When dehydrated, the blood becomes "sticky" and the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body.
• Practice finding the pulse on your wrist first so you can do it more easily during exercise.

Warning

• Stop exercising immediately if you feel chest pain, fatigue or nausea, or have excess breathing difficulty for the exercise you are doing. Stop exercising and monitor your symptoms. If they do not go away within three to five minutes, seek medical attention immediately.
• Avoid extreme weather conditions. Being too hot or too cold can increase the pressure on the heart. Avoid exercising in direct sunlight when the temperature exceeds 29 ° C unless the humidity is currently very low. Also avoid exercising in low temperatures accompanied by cold winds, at -18 ° C or below.