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Exercises for Coronary Artery Disease

Even if you have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease, do not assume that you cannot still benefit from adopting a regular regime of exercise. It is never too late to make up for lost ground--exercising through coronary heart disease can help improve your overall prognosis and help your body recovery from the condition as quickly as possible.

  1. Coronary Artery Disease

    • Coronary artery disease is a condition whereby the blood vessels that provide oxygen and nutrients to the heart become unnaturally narrowed, sharply increasing your risk of heart attack and other cardiac diseases. Symptoms include localized pain or heaviness in the chest, which is usually triggered by physical activity or strong emotion. According to the American Heart Association, coronary artery disease is the number one cause of death throughout the United States for both men and women.

    Exercise and Coronary Artery Disease

    • Adopting a regular plan of exercise can help you overcome coronary artery disease by improving your heart's condition and helping to reverse the accumulation of plaque that is causing your arteries to narrow. When exercising, the body's need for oxygen and other nutrients increases, causing a proportionate increase in heart rate and blood flow. This increase in blood flow effectively cleans the proverbial "pipes" of your arteries along with reducing cholesterol levels in the blood.

    Exercise Recommendations

    • According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the best exercise plan for dealing with coronary artery disease is a progressive plan that slowly ramps up in intensity as your fitness level improves. Thus, if you are completely new to exercise, you might want to begin with something as simple as walking 30 to 45 minutes several days a week in the morning. However, if you are accustomed to training, you can probably jump right into a light program of resistance training with your doctor's approval.

    Durational Requirements

    • According to the American Heart Association, you should ideally be aiming for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise performed five days out of the week. Remember that 30 minutes is the minimum--ideally, you will want to exercise more than that for optimal results, but reaching the "30 minute, five days a week" mark is a suitable milestone to work toward when beginning an exercise regime.

    Considerations

    • Remember that the effectiveness of your exercise program will be naturally limited by the appropriateness of your diet. You will never be able to outwork a poor diet, and this becomes even more true if you are already suffering from coronary artery disease. Remember that you should be eating plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, while cutting back on saturated and trans fats to optimize your chances for a swift recovery.

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