What Cardiac Rehab Actually Is

Part of the post heart attack anxiety series

After a heart attack, people talk a lot about exercise, and your first thought is: is it safe for me? Who’s going to make sure my heart still works when it’s beating at 160 bpm? Will I die? Cardiac rehab is a program built for people recovering from something serious, a heart attack, heart surgery, that kind of event. If you haven't gone through something like that, there's a good chance you've never heard of it. I hadn't.

Basically, it's a supervised exercise program, usually run out of a hospital. Mine was. You go in a few times a week for anywhere from six to twelve weeks depending on how serious what you went through was. In most cases insurance covers it, which honestly surprised me given how much of healthcare doesn't work that way.

They hook sensors up to you so your heart is monitored the whole time, and then you work out on the bikes, the treadmills, rowing machines, use light weights, all while the medical staff keep an eye on everything. But one thing nobody warns you about is that once you start sweating, those sensors have a habit of peeling off. I sweat a lot! I spent half my sessions getting re-stuck to wires like some kind of malfunctioning robot.

If your program has them, and mine did, you can also meet with dietitians and other specialists while you're there. That part ended up being just as valuable as the exercise itself, because it meant I had actual experts to ask what I could and couldn't do, what I should and shouldn't be pushing toward, instead of guessing on my own. That’s one of the reasons we are offering access to a cardiac dietitian for our monthly subscribers by the way. It’s invaluable.

What cardiac rehab gave me more than anything was my physical confidence back. Having trained people watch my heart while I worked out, week after week, proved to me that my body could handle activity again. It helped dial down my post heart attack anxiety.

If you've been through a heart attack, surgery, or anything similar, please ask your doctor about cardiac rehab. It doesn't get offered automatically everywhere, and it's worth asking for directly if nobody's brought it up yet.

Because you only get one heart. ‘Til next time, Stephen.