Exercise is part of heart disease recovery, but experts usually don’t recommend jumping back into high intensity activities. Talking with a doctor first, starting slow, and keeping heart health in mind can help keep you safe during recovery.

Heart disease, also called cardiovascular disease (CVD), describes various conditions that affect your heart and blood vessels. Coronary artery disease, heart failure, and arrhythmias are just a few examples of heart disease conditions.

When you’re recovering from heart disease treatment, exercise is important. Not only does it affect underlying risk factors related to CVD, but it can also help rebuild the strength and fitness of your cardiorespiratory system (your heart and lungs).

When done safely, exercise plays a key role in cardiac rehabilitation. Talking with your doctor before starting an exercise program can help you avoid putting your recovering heart under too much strain.

Talking to your doctor about exercise during heart disease recovery is essential. Your doctor will tell you how soon you can start an exercise program based on your individual diagnosis and what tests are necessary to determine appropriate fitness goals.

Your doctor may ask you to perform a graded exercise test, also known as a stress test, so they can monitor your heart function during controlled exercise. During a graded exercise test, a healthcare professional will monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, and you’ll be hooked up to an electrocardiogram device.

Everyone’s exercise plan during heart disease recovery will be different depending on the following factors:

  • medical history
  • specific heart disease diagnosis
  • type of heart disease treatment
  • current fitness level
  • lifestyle factors

Starting slow helps keeps the strain on your heart manageable and allows the heart to strengthen without the risk of injury.

A 2024 statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation explains that doctors prescribe exercise in cardiac recovery based on the following core components:

  • frequency
  • duration
  • intensity
  • mode of activity

Your cardiac rehabilitation specialist determines these factors based on your graded exercise testing results, which help doctors determine your ideal peak oxygen levels and heart rate ranges while they plan your exercise routine.

All heart disease recovery exercise plans focus on gradual pacing. You start slow and gradually build up your stamina over time. For some people, exercise duration might only increase by 1 to 5 minutes each session.

Keeping track of your heart rate and other symptoms like breathlessness or fatigue can help prevent overexertion when you’re starting out.

Aerobic exercise is the cornerstone of activity during heart disease recovery. It promotes weight management, helps reduce other heart disease risk factors, and directly improves your cardiorespiratory fitness by working your heart and lungs simultaneously.

Most structured cardiac rehabilitation programs suggest starting by performing aerobic exercise 3 days per week, but the 2024 paper suggests exercising 5 or more days per week to meet federal guidelines if your heart condition is stable.

If your stamina allows, you can aim for exercise sessions that last 20 to 60 minutes, with 1 to 5 minute increases until you reach your individual volume goal.

Current fitness recommendations for adults with stable heart conditions are:

  • 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week (or a combination of both)
  • moderate to high intensity muscle strengthening at least 2 days per week

Walking, cycling, rowing, swimming, jogging, and using elliptical trainers are all common aerobic activities for heart disease recovery.

Strength training, specifically progressive resistance training, makes up the other portion of exercise recommendations in heart disease recovery. Resistance training helps you build your tolerance for aerobic exercise and also helps improve your balance, metabolism, and overall function.

The 2024 AHA paper suggests people initially do resistance exercise 2 days per week, on nonconsecutive days. Eventually, they can increase the frequency to 3 days per week.

Weight machines, free weights, resistance bands, and body weight exercises like squats or wall push-ups are all appropriate places to start. The 2024 paper suggests beginning with 1 set per exercise of 10 to 15 repetitions, as tolerated, with good form and range of motion.

As your strength builds, you can increase to 3 sets per exercise.

Your body does a good job of letting you know when you’re exceeding your limits. Signals like dizziness, chest pain, breathlessness, and excessive fatigue are cues to stop what you’re doing.

You never need to push through extreme discomfort when you’re recovering from heart disease. Listen to your body and rest if you need to.

Aerobic exercises and strength training are cornerstones of cardiac recovery. It’s important to discuss the activities you do and their intensity, duration, and frequency with your doctor.

It’s OK to start slow. Be kind to yourself during this process and give yourself grace. This kind of approach can also help you maintain a consistent exercise schedule and see those long-term benefits.