The exercises against a cardiac insufficiency should help to positively influence the course of the disease and make the patient more resilient again. Exercises have good effects in terms of improved oxygen uptake, endurance, strength, peripheral circulation and thus also on the patient’s overall quality of life. It is important to consider the individual fitness level and the severity of the disease for each patient when performing the exercises against cardiac insufficiency and to keep a constant pulse control during the performance. In general, a high number of repetitions is more likely than too much exertion.
Myocardial insufficiency and sports
Sport in the case of heart muscle weakness is useful under certain conditions and is a major component of therapy. Of course, not all sports are suitable, the focus here is mainly on light endurance training and dosed strength training. In any case, a team of physiotherapists and doctors will assess the individual situation of the patient in order to make a risk assessment and to create a suitable training plan.
The most important thing is not to overload the heart muscle. This means that constant pulse checks are carried out during training. Exercises that cause pressurized breathing (e.g.
lifting weights) or sports that often alternate between resting and activity phases (e.g. soccer, basketball) are also unsuitable and are not recommended. Due to the weakening of the heart muscle, vascular resistance is reduced in many patients, which severely limits training. In order to achieve success, an interval model for endurance sports has proven to be effective.
Patients train at 50% of full load and have regular breaks of 30-60 seconds. This ensures that a training effect can be achieved despite the limitations. Of course, the training plan varies from case to case, as not all patients have the same degree of severity of the disease and there may be accompanying diseases. In the case of heart muscle weakness, sport is an integral part of the rehabilitation measures and is carried out regularly by those affected, both at home and in small groups.
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