Excercise Intensity for person with CAD

[controlcause]

Is there any guideline what will be walking speed e.g 6km/hr is ok if excercise stress test has failed at 9.15 minutes

[IanGordon]

Hi UTU. This is a 'how long is a piece of string?' question with the additional complication of the string having a suspect tensile strength! The failed stress test means that there's something happening to your heart that you may need protection from , so I would raise the exercise tolerance issue with your cardiologist. Limiting your activity to a prescribed heart rate (bpm) may well be the way forward but you need medical advice on this. Walking at 6 kph may be tolerable on the flat but that pace on an incline could elevate your heart rate significantly and be hazardous. So max heart rate guidance is what you need, provided your cardiologist is happy with your proposed exercise regime. Generally some form of exercise is a positive so good luck.

[controlcause in reply to IanGordon]

my ekg changes were noted at 9.15min which is 10mets workload 6kmph on flat walking is about 5mets workload . cardiologist is OK with that but looking for some extra references😃

[IanGordon in reply to controlcause]

Mets maybe OK in a lab context with your clinician but for measurement on the fly I would still say that this needs to equate to a maximum workrate of the heart in beats per min, monitored in real time with a heart rate monitor; effectively a visual rev limiter. I hope there's a greater level of knowledge than I have on this forum that can come to your aid and that you can take an holistic approach to what I assume is a heart issue. Exercise is only part of the therapy.

[Kimlouise]

Following confirmation of CAD from angiogram information, and like you failed stress test, I emailed my cardiologist a few days later to ask about exercise tolerance, as I didn't think of it at the time. He rung me yesterday and was very clear about using heart rate as a guide. For me personally, he said to exercise in the 120 - 130 zone, & definitely don't go up to 150 plus as that's when there's more risk of plaque breaking off & causing a blockage/heart attack. All really helpful information. I had been using an Apple watch for measuring BPM, but when I had a 5 day ECG it showed there had been quite a lot of inaccuracy, so I wear a chest strap Polar HRM now which I gather is likely to be much more accurate.

Hope this is helpful, & good luck.

[tunybgur]

Hi,

Check your heart rate limits with your cardio and get a heart rate monitor. As long as you keep within limits you should be able to exercise as long as you feel comfortable, and gently increase duration over time, but don't exceed HR limits.

Exercise is essential to long term heart health.