Exercises

Which exercises are used in the case of a heart muscle weakness will be determined by the doctor in cooperation with the physiotherapist. The stage of the disease and the patient’s general resilience play a major role in the selection. In general, the exercises should be performed with a high number of repetitions and low weights in order to make the training primarily endurance-oriented.

For many patients with heart muscle weakness, yoga and Pilates exercises are therefore particularly suitable for strengthening the muscles. 1) Mobilization of the hips and strengthening of the thighs Lie on your back with your legs straightened. Now lift one leg so that the knee is directed towards the chest.

The upper and lower thighs remain at a 90° angle. 7 repetitions per side. 2) Strengthening of belly and upper arms Lie on your back with legs raised and stretch your arms 10cm towards your feet.

Now perform 20 sit ups. 3) Relaxation and loosening of the muscles in the shoulder-neck area Sit up straight and upright. Now place your hands in a semicircle behind your head.

From this position slowly pull your shoulders towards your ears and then lower them again. Then gently pull your elbows back before returning to the starting position. You can find more exercises in the article Exercises with existing heart muscle weakness

Sports

Although the heart is no longer fully capable due to the weakness of the heart muscle, it is a mistake to completely refrain from sports. This would even have a negative effect on the disease. The therapy of a heart muscle weakness even sees sport as an integral part of rehabilitation.Depending on the individual fitness level and stage of illness, a suitable sports program is created, which has been proven to improve the performance of the heart.

The sport is especially about slowly increased endurance training such as walking, hiking or swimming. It is therefore mainly about sports that do not require a lot of effort. Muscle-building training should only be done under medical supervision and with light weights and a higher number of repetitions and should therefore be more endurance-based. Affected persons should take care not to overstrain themselves and to approach sport rather slowly in order to benefit from it in the long term.