Whether you’re recovering from a heart attack or angina, cardiac rehab is a must for staying healthy long-term. Returning to your everyday routine is the priority, but you can’t do that unless you rebuild strength and confidence after a cardiac event.
Cardiac rehab exercises help you gradually return to an active lifestyle without overdoing it. Learn how cardiac rehabilitation works, which workouts are safe to try at home, and the benefits of sticking with a cardiac rehab exercise routine.
What Is Cardiac Rehabilitation?
Cardiac rehabilitation is a gradual, medically supervised program that strengthens your heart after a cardiac event. This isn’t a DIY program; it’s a step-by-step plan for rebuilding your health, all under the guidance of your doctor, nutritionist, and physical therapist.
For example, your doctor might ask you to go on short walks while in the hospital and take longer walks once you get back home. From there, you might do a few sessions on a stationary bike every week. The goal is to improve your endurance over time, starting with light activities that help you return to daily life.
Keep in mind that cardiac events can happen to people of any sex or age, so you aren’t off the hook if you’re young. You may need cardiac rehab after experiencing:
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Heart failure
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A heart attack
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Getting a stent
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Angina
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Peripheral artery disease
You might assume you’re fine once you leave the hospital, but that’s just the first stage of recovery. Without proper rehab, you’re at risk of future heart problems.
In fact, doing cardiac rehab exercises lowers your risk of death by as much as 58%, compared to doing no rehab at all. Still, only one-third of all heart attack survivors do cardiac rehab, so the key is to make a program you’ll enjoy and stick with.
Can I Do Cardiac Rehab at Home?
Yes and no. You can do some parts of cardiac rehab at home, but not the entire program. Depending on your insurance coverage, you might have to do the bulk of recovery at home, but regardless, you can’t do everything solo.
Recovery starts in the hospital or doctor’s office, and you’ll be gradually phased into outpatient and then at-home exercises. Cardiac rehabilitation typically happens in three phases:
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Inpatient: Your doctor will likely ask you to do some light PT or exercises while recovering in the hospital. Your doctor will first do a lot of imaging and blood tests to make sure everything’s okay, including a treadmill or chemical stress test. Based on these results, your team will create a personalized plan. It’s crucial to follow their advice, since doing too little could stall your progress and doing too much could cause more harm than good.
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Outpatient: After discharge, your doctor will ask you to do your rehab at an outpatient facility, usually with a physical therapist. You can expect to go a few times a week at first, then taper off as you recover. Pay close attention during these supervised sessions; you’ll learn about proper technique and how to listen to your body while recovering.
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At home: Eventually, your team will graduate you from outpatient treatment and ask you to do cardiac rehab exercises at home. Follow your doctor’s orders and closely monitor your heart rate and blood pressure. If you have any inkling that something is wrong, stop immediately and call your doctor.
So, which exercises can you do at home to get your heart in shape? It depends on your situation, but low-impact aerobic exercises like walking or using a stationary bike are good places to start.
From there, you can try strength training to rebuild muscle. Muscle mass is crucial because stronger muscles, like your glutes, reduce the workload on your heart as it pumps blood.
Still, it can be tough to stick with an at-home exercise routine. If you want the benefits of exercise but don’t want to deal with the hassle of the gym, go with the Speediance Gym Monster 2. Customize the setup based on your current fitness level and scale up as you get stronger. Plus, you can track your progress in the connected app, helping you visualize your recovery in a few taps.
7 Safe Cardiac Rehab Exercises To Try
You don’t want to overdo it with cardiac rehab. Intense steady-state training is tempting, especially if you’re starting to feel better. However, interval training is better for cardiovascular health, so start training in intervals first. As always, immediately stop these exercises if you feel lightheaded or short of breath and call your doctor.
1. Seated Marches
Seated marches are a low-impact exercise that builds strength in your hip flexors without stressing your joints. Staying seated will help you build muscle without worrying about balance.
How to do this exercise:
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Start by sitting in a sturdy chair or bench with your feet flat on the floor.
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Raise your knee, trying to lift it to your chest.
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Slowly lower your foot down and repeat in a marching motion.
2. Hamstring Curls
Did you know that strong hamstrings can support heart health? They help alleviate pressure on your lower back, and strong hamstrings also support healthy blood pressure.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand up straight with your feet hip distance apart.
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Slowly bend your knee and try to bring your heel toward your glute.
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Lower your foot back down and repeat on the other side.
If you want to make this cardiac rehab exercise more challenging, consider adding ankle weights to build muscle.
3. Calf Raise
Also known as a heel raise, this exercise is more of a stretch, but it can help with blood flow from the legs to your heart. As an added bonus, it can also help stretch out the fascia, which is helpful if you suffer from plantar fasciitis.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
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Slowly rise to the balls of your feet. Hold for ten seconds.
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Lower back down and repeat.
4. Squats
Your quads and glutes are some of the largest muscles in your body. The stronger they are, the less work your heart has to do to pump blood throughout the body. Squats might not be fun, but they’re one of the most effective body-weight exercises for strengthening your glutes.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointing forward.
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Bend your knees and lower down until your knees are at a 90-degree angle.
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Come back up and repeat.
If you want the benefits of squats but worry about stability, try isometric wall sits. The British Journal of Sports Medicine found that isometric holds, like wall sits, work wonders for blood pressure.
5. Leg Raises
Leg raises help you work both your legs and core. You can lie on the ground or on a bench, whichever is more comfortable.
How to do this exercise:
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Lie flat on your back, knees bent.
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Lift one leg straight up, with your heel pointing toward the ceiling.
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Place your heel back down, repeating with the other leg.
For a greater challenge, try lifting both legs at the same time.
6. Arm Raises
If you got a stent, you may need extra rehab for your wrist or arms. Arm raises will help you stretch out sore muscles and steadily regain your range of motion.
How to do this exercise:
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Stand with your arms at your side.
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Lift both arms to the side to your shoulder, then lower them back down.
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To help with mobility, next lift your arms over your head, lowering them back down.
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Alternate between the two movements.
As you regain your strength, you can up the ante by adding resistance to the arm raises. A cable machine like the Speediance Gym Monster 2 intelligently adjusts weight based on your individual performance, helping you build strength without the guesswork.
7. Bicep Curls
Arm raises are a good start, but bicep curls will help you build more muscle mass. For this exercise, you can use either dumbbells or resistance cables.
How to do this exercise:
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With either dumbbells or a resistance cable in each hand, palms should face out.
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Keeping your elbows in, bring your weights to your shoulders.
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Lower the weight back down.
What Are the Benefits of Cardiac Rehab Exercises?
Cardiac rehab exercises are critical to regaining an active lifestyle. Although only one-third of heart attack patients stick with them, they offer too many benefits to ignore.
Recover and Prevent Future Issues
Many heart patients do rehab exercises to recover. But you might not realize that proper rehab also prevents future issues. We all know exercise is good for your heart, and a structured program will strengthen your cardiovascular system, making you more resilient against any future problems.
Improve Quality (and Quantity) of Life
Even a little movement can help you get back to everyday activities after a heart attack, stent procedure, or angina. We take so many movements for granted, whether walking to the mailbox, climbing a few stairs, or carrying groceries. Sticking with cardiac rehab exercises will help you be independent for longer.
Protect Your Mental Health
Rehabbing your body is always a priority, but exercise can also address the emotional side of recovering from a serious health event. Exercise is the closest thing we have to a cure-all for mental health concerns. A 2023 study found that it not only helps with sleep quality and addiction, but also with anxiety and depression.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Walking Good for Cardiac Rehab?
Yes, especially in early rehab. Walking is low-impact, affordable, and easy. It improves circulation and can even help reduce stress, helping cardiac patients get active shortly after leaving the hospital. You can scale up or down depending on your fitness level, making walking one of the safest cardiac rehab exercises.
What Are the Best Exercises for Heart Rehab?
It depends entirely on your health and your doctor’s recommendations. For most people, a successful cardiac rehab exercise program includes low-impact aerobic exercise like walking, flexibility and balance exercises to prevent falls, and interval-based strength training.
Cardiac Rehab Exercises Support Long-Term Recovery
Whether you practice them in your hospital room or in the comfort of your home, cardiac rehab exercises can help you return to an active, independent lifestyle. While you should always follow your doctor’s advice and listen to your body, the workouts in this guide can help you return to living life on your own terms.
The key is to go slowly and be consistent over time, but making time for the gym is tough. Instead, bring the gym to you. With 220 pounds of digital weight and AI-based adjustments, check out the Speediance Gym Monster 2 as a smart, space-saving option for doing cardiac rehab exercises at home.
