Benefits of exercise

Temperature extremes

Shoes

Clothes

Home exercise program

Rate of perceived exertion

Home exercise precautions

• Stengthens your heart, lungs and muscles.
• Improves your energy level so you feel better.
• Helps you sleep better.
• Improves your overall fitness and balance.
• Raises your HDL (good cholesterol) and lowers your LDL (bad cholesterol).
• Lowers your triglycerides.
• Helps control your blood sugar.
• Lowers your blood pressure.
• Helps with weight loss and weight control.
• Helps reduce anxiety, depressions and stress.

Lack of activity can result in weakness and stiff muscles. A gradual increase in activity and exercise will restore your energy and strength. Aerobic exercise needs to be done three times a week or more to be effective.

• Always follow the advice of your doctor. Make sure you have your doctor’s permission before starting an exercise or strength-training program.
• Keep within your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) range during exercise.
• Wait 1 to 2 hours after eating before you exercise.
• Wait at least 20 minutes after exercise before eating.
• Drink a swallow of water with each 10 to 15 minutes of exercise.
• Do not exercise 30 to 60 minutes after taking in large amounts of caffeine. Do not exercise after drinking alcohol.
• Do not exercise if you do not feel well.
• Check with your doctor before exercising when you have had an unexplained weight gain with worsening symptoms of heart failure.
• Do not take a hot or cold shower right before or after exercising. Use lukewarm water.
• Avoid activities that involve pushing, pulling or lifting heavy objects. Heavy weight-lifting and calisthenics (push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups) should also be avoided.

• Use care and modify your exercise routine in extreme heat, cold, humidity, high altitude and pollution.
• During the summer, exercise in the morning or evening when it is cooler. Exercise indoors when the temperature is above 85 degrees and especially humid.
• In the winter, exercise in the afternoon when it is warmest. If the temperature is 30 degrees or below, including the wind chill, exercise indoors. Wear a mask or scarf over your mouth when you go outside.
• When you exercise against the wind, you may want to slow down or exercise for a shorter time. Wind makes you work harder and make the body feel colder than it is.
• A higher altitude can make you feel sleepy, sick to your stomach, tired, light-headed or give you a headache. If you feel any of these, do not exercise, or go to a lower altitude to exercise.
• Air pollution makes it hard for your body to get the oxygen it needs, so do not exercise hard when you know the air is polluted. Most often, this is when the pollution index is above 100 on a weather report.

Wear shoes with good support. When buying shoes, try them on in the afternoon. This is because feet are slightly larger in the afternoon than in the morning. It is important that your shoes are comfortable.

In warm weather, wear loose-fitting clothes made of cotton or nylon. These let the air flow freely over your body and more heat can escape. Wear light-colored clothes in the summer. These reflect the heat. Do not change your clothes if they get wet from sweat. This helps to keep your body cool.

In cold weather, wear clothes made of cotton or nylon. Wear clothes that cover the arms, legs, hands, feet and head. Dress in layers. Clothes can be taken off or added when needed. Change wet clothes to dry clothes in cold weather to keep your body warm.

Duration is the total time, beginning after warm-ups and ending before cool-downs. Set a timer to help you keep track of your total time.

Exercise and rest are the number of minutes that you exercise, followed by the number of minutes that you rest. Repeat the cycle until the duration time is complete. For example, in week 1, exercise for 5 minutes, then rest for 2 minutes, then exercise for another 2 to 3 minutes, followed by a 1 to 2 minutes rest, and so on until 12 minutes is complete. This will require 3 exercise intervals and 2 rest intervals. Rest may mean slowing down or stopping, depending on what you are able to perform comfortably.

The chart below should serve as a guide. You may need to start and progress more slowly. The goal is to gradually increase your exercise time. If you find a certain week’s pattern of exercise tiring, repeat it before going on to the next week. Do the exercises you enjoy and can continue for the rest of your life!

One way to measure how hard you are working during exercise is the rate of perceived exertion scale or RPE scale. RPE is the total amount of feeling of physical stress and effort. Do not concern yourself with any single factor such as leg weakness or shortness of breath. Choose a number based on how hard you feel the work or exercise is overall.

Number 6 is being at rest and doing nothing at all. Number 20 is being the hardest you’ve ever worked. Your goal during exercise is to work at a level that is between 11 (fairly light) and 13 (somewhat hard).

RPE Scale

During exercise, SLOW DOWN if you:

• Are short of breath and unable to talk.
• Feel unusually tired.
• Still feel unusually tired the following day – don’t work as hard that day.
• Exceed your RPE range.

STOP exercising if you:

• Have symptoms of angina such as chest, neck, jaw or arm discomfort, pain or pressure.
• Break out in a cold sweat.
• Feel faint, lightheaded or dizzy.
• Have nausea or vomiting.
• Have pounding, fluttering or an irregular heart rhythm.

If the above symptoms occur and go away after stopping exercise, report them to your doctor.

Seek immediate medical attention:

• If symptoms of angina are not relieved by rest or Nitroglycerin within 15 minutes.
• Fainting or black-out spells occur.
• If pounding, fluttering or irregular heart rhythm does not go away after stopping exercise.

Return to Heart Failure Program
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Rapid City Regional Hospital Home

Rapid City Regional Hospital
Cardiac Services Department
353 Fairmont Blvd.
Rapid City, SD 57701
Phone:(605) 719-8045
Fax:(605) 719-4354