How you can enjoy exercise even with chronic heart disease

One thing is clear: if you suffer from chronic heart valve disease, you are no longer as physically resilient as you used to be. But that doesn't mean that the sofa has to be your best friend from now on.
In fact, sport is very important: regular, measured exercise slows down the progression of the disease because it has a positive effect on blood vessels and organs. It can even bring about an improvement in cardiac performance!

Exercise also brings a zest for life and, in the best case, new contacts. Another factor is that it can reduce secondary diseases. Depression, type 2 diabetes and other illnesses that often go hand in hand with heart disease can at least be curbed, if not prevented, with regular exercise.

Well-supervised rehabilitation is necessary, for example, after a heart attack, an operation (e.g. stent, bypass, MitraClip procedure) or other incisive events that affect the heart (e.g. massive worsening of heart failure symptoms, known as decompensated heart failure by doctors). There are medically supervised cardiac exercise groups for this purpose. Under medical supervision, those affected learn to correctly assess their physical performance, can return to sporting activity without risk and receive additional advice on nutrition and lifestyle. Your doctor can prescribe participation. You can find contact details for these groups at British Heart Foundation website or NHS resources. This site was established in 1991 and affiliated to the British Heart Foundation, where you can also find more information on cardiac exercise.

Discuss with your doctor what heart rate is still healthy for you before you start training on your own. An ergometry measurement is usually carried out to determine your maximum heart rate. You should not overload your heart; on the other hand, a certain amount of effort is necessary if the sport is to have a healthy effect. Your doctor can also tell you what warning signs you should look out for: For example, if you experience shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations, dizziness or similar symptoms, you should stop exercising immediately.

There are also people with chronic heart disease who should generally refrain from exercise. It is therefore essential to discuss your plans with your doctor beforehand.

Sports clubs and gyms offer plenty of opportunities to exercise. It is best to train under the supervision of experienced staff at the beginning until you can safely assess the intensity. A mixture of endurance and strength training is recommended. This targets different muscle groups and also places varied demands on your circulation. You should feel free to work up a sweat: You should exercise at least three times a week at medium to high intensity. Studies have shown that this intensity leads to a measurable improvement in the fitness of heart patients. Of course, it is important that the exercise is adapted to the severity of the disease. And: it should be increased slowly! To begin with, you should only exercise at around 40% of your maximum heart rate; as your fitness improves, you can increase this to up to 70%.

Depending on the underlying disease, interval training may be more suitable than pure endurance training. In this particular type of training, phases of lower exertion alternate with phases of high intensity. People with severe heart failure, for example, benefit from this. Recent scientific studies even suggest that interval training generally achieves greater effects.