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

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Great Advice

1959DarkBurst profile image
18 Replies

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 profile image
1959DarkBurst
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18 Replies

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

Heather1957 profile image
Heather1957

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

Yumz199725 profile image
Yumz199725

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

devonian186 profile image
devonian186

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.

Wooodsie profile image
Wooodsie

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

Goldiocks profile image
Goldiocks

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 profile image
Hrty in reply to Goldiocks

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.

MountainGoat52 profile image
MountainGoat52

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 profile image
1959DarkBurst in reply to MountainGoat52

Spot on.

scentedgardener profile image
scentedgardener

Very good way of putting it.

ParrotLover22 profile image
ParrotLover22

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 :)

Pjaze profile image
Pjaze

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.

Captain_Birdseye profile image
Captain_Birdseye in reply to Pjaze

I'd love to check it out if you don't mind sharing please?

1959DarkBurst profile image
1959DarkBurst in reply to Captain_Birdseye

This was part of a conversation.

Captain_Birdseye profile image
Captain_Birdseye in reply to 1959DarkBurst

Apologies, I didn't realise it was exclusive, being on an open forum and all... I'll leave you to it.

1959DarkBurst profile image
1959DarkBurst in reply to Captain_Birdseye

Sorry, what I meant was that this was just a conversation between me and my Occupational Therapist - there's nothing to "check out".

Captain_Birdseye profile image
Captain_Birdseye in reply to 1959DarkBurst

I was asking about the YouTube videos PJaze mentioned... I replied directly to that reply rather than your post...

1959DarkBurst profile image
1959DarkBurst in reply to Captain_Birdseye

Lol, confusion resolved! Have a great day.

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