Let's continue with heart failure. Now let's discuss the basic principles of physical activity.
Exercise for heart failure must be approved by a cardiologist.
There are three exercise options:
- Aerobic exercise. It is also called cardio or endurance training. She literally trains the heart.
- Muscle strength training. This is important for people with weak hands who find it difficult to maintain themselves. Older women benefit most from adding light weight arm exercises.
- Respiratory muscle training. This is useful for people who, in addition to heart failure, also have chronic lung disease, or for those who have already had to go to intensive care.
Aerobic exercise
This is such a load in which you need to move your body in space: walk, swim, dance, ride a bike or play sports games.
If there is no way to get to the gym, then you can even limit yourself to just brisk walking for 20 - 30 minutes a day. You can walk not only on the street, but also at home. You can go up and down stairs or walk from room to room.
An interesting idea is to be in a large store. There is a good floor, the roof protects from rain and air conditioning. Some shops work around the clock and you can choose a convenient time for a sick person.
You need to take a walk when a person with heart failure feels better. Walking is not advised after eating. People are sluggish at this time.
Strength exercises
It is important not to hold your breath and not to push, because during straining it is more difficult for a sick heart to pump blood.
In exercises for the arms, weights are used with a weight of about 30 - 40% of the maximum, which can be lifted once. Usually with this weight, you can do 12 to 15 repetitions of each exercise.
Respiratory muscle training
We have already discussed respiratory muscle training in history about recovery from pneumonia. Only there were exercises on the exhale, and here you need to train the muscles while inhaling. The same 60% of the maximum effort. Only inhale, not exhale. This is discussed with the attending physician.
How training is organized
You need to train at least three times a week. It is best to exercise most of the days of the week. Usually they do not exercise for less than three months.
At the beginning of the workout, there should be a warm-up for 5 - 10 minutes, during which you need to move your arms and legs to accelerate the pulse to the worker.
The workout itself should last at least 20 minutes. Better if it will be 30 - 45 minutes.
After training, there should be a cool down of 5-10 minutes, when you need to gradually reduce the load. This is important in order not to faint from a sharp drop in blood pressure.
The load is often adjusted by heart rate. The working heart rate range during exercise can be anywhere from 55 to 90% of maximum. The maximum heart rate is obtained by subtracting age in years from 220. This counting will not work if the person is on heart rate medications. In this case, you will have to require the cardiologist to determine the required load.
How to increase the load
There are no clear recommendations here. Usually this business is regulated according to well-being.
If something is not clear, then write in the comments and then let's move on.
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