Heart Failure and Physical Activity: A Comprehensive Guide
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends a combination of aerobic and resistance exercise for people with heart failure, to improve cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, and endurance. This approach can help reduce symptoms, improve the functional capacity of the heart, and reduce the risk of hospitalization.
Aerobic and Resistance Exercise for Heart Failure Patients
The recommended exercise regimen includes aerobic activities like walking, cycling, swimming, and resistance training such as weightlifting or bodyweight exercises. The frequency should be at least 3-4 times per week, with the intensity and duration carefully tailored to the individual's symptoms and fitness level, and gradually increased for better results.
Types of Exercise
Examples of aerobic exercise include walking, cycling, swimming, and using an elliptical machine. Moderate intensity resistance training involves making the muscles work against a force and can help work all the major muscle groups in the body.
Flexibility Exercise
Types of exercise that can boost flexibility include yoga, tai chi, and stretching. Flexibility exercise helps support the musculoskeletal system by reducing or preventing joint pain, cramping, and muscle aches.
Safety Measures
Warming up before exercise and cooling down after exercise are essential to prevent injury. Warming up helps dilate blood vessels, warm up the muscles, raise the heart rate gradually, increase range of motion, and reduce stress on the joints and tendons. Cooling down ensures that body temperature and heart rate lower gradually.
Tips for Stretching
Tips for stretching include holding each stretch for 10-30 seconds, being able to feel the stretch without it being painful, avoiding bouncing the body when stretching, maintaining consistent breathing, and avoiding exercises that require holding the breath.
Starting an Exercise Program
People with heart failure should start with low impact activities, such as walking or swimming, beginning with shorter sessions of 10-15 minutes and gradually building up the duration and frequency of exercise. Aim for at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, split throughout the week to be active for at least 30 minutes on 5 days.
Important Reminders
It is crucial to consult a healthcare professional before starting an exercise program due to potential heart conditions. If chest pain, swelling in the lower body, worsening dizziness or confusion, shortness of breath when resting occur during exercise, call a doctor or 911 immediately. If people experience chest discomfort, worsening shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, rapid heart rate, extreme fatigue during exercise, they should stop exercising and contact a doctor.
Benefits of Exercise
Exercise may offer numerous benefits beyond improving heart function, including reduced symptoms of depression or anxiety, improved sleep, stress management, better management of any additional health conditions, weight loss or maintenance, increased energy levels, increased physical strength, increased endurance and ability to exercise, improved overall health and fitness, increased ability to carry out everyday activities, retained independence, and improved quality of life.
References
[1] American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). (2013). ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
[2] Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (HFA-ESC). (2016). 2016 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure. European Journal of Heart Failure, 18(1), 1-100.
[3] Pescatello, L. S., Franklin, B. A., Blair, S. N., Church, T. S., Dishman, R. K., Earnest, C. P., ... & Wenger, N. K. (2014). ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 46(10), 1817-1837.
- To alleviate chronic diseases and manage medical conditions such as heart failure, one should consider a health-and-wellness routine that includes aerobic and resistance exercises, like cycling, swimming, weightlifting, and yoga.
- Chronic diseases like heart failure can be managed effectively with fitness-and-exercise, incorporating both physical science and medical-conditions knowledge. Aim for at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, combined with resistance training, with the intensity carefully adjusted for your condition.
- In addition to enhancing cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength, prioritizing health and wellness through exercise can also lead to better sleep quality, stress management, and an overall improvement in the functional capacity of the heart, reducing the risk of hospitalization.
