When diagnosed with congestive heart failure, you may feel afraid to
exercise and perform other physical activities.
However, exercise can help you manage heart failure symptoms and reduce your
risk of future hospitalizations.
In this video, you'll learn how to exercise safely.
Let's start by talking about how heart failure affects
your ability to exercise.
Though the causes of congestive heart failure can differ,
the results are similar.
Once you have experienced heart failure, your heart cannot beat
as strong as it should, especially during exertion.
Less blood reaches your active muscles.
And when your muscles are not getting enough oxygen, you will feel fatigue
and short of breath.
Now, let's discuss why exercise is important and
beneficial to your heart.
First, exercise increases the pumping strength of your heart.
More blood gets delivered to your muscles so your heart
does not have to work as hard.
Second, exercise improves gas exchanges in your lungs.
This means more oxygen will be available for muscles to
produce energy.
As a result, you will feel less tired and less short of breath
while exerting yourself.
You will also have more energy and endurance to enjoy
your favorite activities.
If you like to garden, play golf, hike or spend active time
with your family, regular exercise will allow you to have more fun and
feel better while doing so.
Now that we've seen the benefits of exercise, let's learn how you can
safely become more active.
The key is to start slowly and build up gradually.
You can start with as little as 10 minutes of light to moderate
aerobic exercise per day and build up to 30 minutes per day.
It's important for people with heart failure to
warm up for 5 to 10 minutes.
This fairly long warm up prepares your muscles and your heart for
the exercise, which in turn helps prevent you from getting tired
or short of breath quickly.
Prioritize exercise frequency and duration over intensity.
It is better to do a little exercise most days of the week, rather than
exercising vigorously for only 1 or 2 days a week.
And finally, make sure to listen to your body and tell your doctor about
any new symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, lightheadedness or
increased shortness of breath.
Maintaining your strength is vital as our muscles tend to
get weaker with age.
First, I'm going to demonstrate several exercises using an elastic band.
For each exercise, you should aim for two sets of 10 to 15 repetitions.
If you don't have elastic bands at home, I will show you a few ways you
can use other household items for strength training purposes.
Let's start with some bicep curls.
This exercise will strengthen your arms so it will be easier to
carry those heavy grocery bags.
Place the elastic band securely under your feet and tuck in your elbows.
As you exhale, bring your hands to your shoulders, then slowly lower your
hands while breathing in through your nose.
The next exercise is tricep extensions and will strengthen the muscles
in the back of your arms.
Let's start with the same position as before but
with your hands by your hips.
Now, hold the elastic bands behind you by only moving your forearm.
As before, exhale as you stretch the band, and
inhale as you release the tension.
This next exercise is for your shoulders and the
muscles in your back.
It will help fight rounded shoulders and give you a better posture.
Hold a band tightly in front of your chest.
Keep your arms straight and slowly pull apart.
Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together.
The breathing technique is the same.
Exhale during your effort, inhale while you release the tension.
For this last exercise, which targets your chest muscles, wrap the
elastic band around your back and under your armpits.
In the starting position, your arms should be by your armpits.
Push forward as you breathe out, then inhale as you
slowly bring your hands back.
Slow and controlled movements are more effective and safer for your joints.
Again, here are the four recommended elastic band exercises:
Bicep curls and tricep extensions to strengthen your arms.
Shoulder squeeze and chest press to strengthen your back
and chest muscles, and to improve your posture.
Now, I will show you a few ways you can use household items
for strength training.
A typical household item are soup cans.
Here is how you can use them to perform a variety of strength exercises.
Try to work some sort of strength training or resistance training into
your routine 2 or 3 times a week.
Here are some additional tips to ensure you have safe and
productive exercise sessions.
Remember to drink water before and during exercise, but do not exceed any
fluid restriction from your health care provider.
Avoid exercising right after a big meal.
Do not exercise on a completely empty stomach either.
You will need some fuel in your tank to be efficient during exercise sessions.
Get an exercise partner to help keep you motivated and safe.
Not all exercise partners are human.
Your dog can help get you out and get going too.
Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised exercise and education
program intended for patients with a variety of heart conditions.
Our cardiac rehab nurses and exercise physiologists will design a
personalized exercise plan for you.
We also monitor your heart throughout the program.
Remember, physical activity can be done safely and is definitely recommended
for heart failure patients.
Aim to include some resistance training exercises,
like we showed you, 2 to 3 times per week to improve
and maintain your muscle strength.
Consider whether cardiac rehab might be a good fit for you.
Whatever you do, be sure to follow these important guidelines
when you exercise.
Always warm up for 5 to 10 minutes.
Start slowly and work your way up to 30 minutes of light to
moderate intensity exercise.
Exercise on 5 or more days per week.
Consistency is key.
Listen to your body and be sure to report
any new symptoms to your doctor.
We encourage, hope and expect you to stay active, healthy and happy.
Thank you for watching.