Great Advice: Hi all, I just thought it... - British Heart Fou...

British Heart Foundation

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Great Advice

1959DarkBurst•

Hi all, I just thought it might be useful to pass on some advice that I've received fro my Cardiac Rehab Occupational Therapist.

I had been complaining that despite the plumbing being fixed, the pipes unblocked and the electrics checked I was still getting absolutely knackered if I "over did it a bit". She gave me a really useful analogy.

Basically, don't forget that your heart is just a pumping muscle and (in my case) it had been forcibly rested for about six months. Now, imagine that your leg had been in plaster for that long following a serious fracture and think of the muscle wastage, there is no way that you'd be able to just start running again! Similarly your heart needs building up again and it's a long slow process.

I really hadn't thought of it like that and found it quite positive and useful feedback and I hope some of you do too.

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1959DarkBurst

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18 Replies

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2 years ago

A very interesting way of looking at it.

Unfortunately for some of us the heart will never be the same again regardless of being able to do any running or not.

Using your therapists analogy, 'My legs ' will be in plaster for the rest of my natural life, but I am more than happy to wave the flag for others.

Take care

Heather19572 years ago

It is a good analogy and something we need to be reminded of.

Yumz1997252 years ago

That's a really good way of putting it makes so much sense.

devonian1862 years ago

Apparently every day you are in hospital resting takes a week to recover from. The older -or more ill you were-the longer the recovery. So you have to recover a lot of lost ground before you can start to overcome the effects of any operation.

Wooodsie2 years ago

Thanks for sharing 1959DarkBurst, helps to make a lot of sense.

Goldiocks2 years ago

Hi Thanks for this useful information. I started Rehab Cardio yesterday and was struggling after my HA last September. Due to being allergic to one drug I was not able to start cardio earlier. Consequently my muscles had lost power and no doubt my heart was the same. I have some residue heart damage so that is a contributor but what your cardio lady says makes sense and explains a lot to me. Appreciate your comment it came at the right time for me and was reassuring.

Hrty• in reply toGoldiocks2 years ago

Rehab has been brilliant. Almost sad mine is coming to an end. The nurses and physios have been brilliant. Encouraging us all to push a little bit harder and move up through the programs they have worked out for us. They keep an eye on us but all done in good humour. Makes for a really enjoyable session each week.

MountainGoat522 years ago

An excellent explanation which demonstrates that we have to keep our heart fit with exercise according to our ability. We cannot just get it to a certain level of fitness and then sit back doing nothing.

1959DarkBurst• in reply toMountainGoat522 years ago

Spot on.

scentedgardener2 years ago

Very good way of putting it.

ParrotLover222 years ago

Good Advice too. I've often wondered why I get absolutely knackered as well, to the point of I can't even think lol 😂. Never thought of it like that though

Pjaze2 years ago

Yep it's a muscle that needs to regain strength. Slow cardio workouts got my lungs and heart pumping again. Lots of great YouTube workouts. I've now got an a selection of good channels I follow. They're not all easy 🤣but all low impact steady state workouts. Free as well. I don't want to force anything on but I could send a link if you want to have a look.