Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Heart Rate Recovery

Cardiopulmonary physical therapy rehabilitation is a vital component in recovery for individuals recovering from a heart attack or heart surgery. Cardiopulmonary rehab not only helps patients recover from surgery, it also helps improve your heart rate recovery response following exercise, which decreases your risk for future heart attack and mortality.

Cardiopulmonary Rehab

Cardiopulmonary physical therapy is a three-phase process for individuals who have had a heart attack, heart bypass surgery, chest pain, stent placement, angioplasty, other noninvasive heart procedures or heart valves replacement surgery. It involves education both in and out of the hospital, supervised exercise sessions and educates you on how to reduce your risk factors and maintain a healthy lifestyle after rehab is over. Cardiac rehab works to rebuild your heart muscle, strength, endurance and overall fitness at safe, supervised levels.

Cardiac Rehab Benefits

Cardiac rehab reduces patients risk for having a future heart attack by 25 percent and having heart failure down the road, according to SSM Heart Institute. Individuals who complete rehab are less likely to experience chest pain, shortness of breath with activity and need medications. Furthermore, patients recover faster and are able to live a healthier lifestyle because they lose weight, have more strength and increase energy and mobility.

Heart Rate Recovery

Heart rate recovery response after exercise is a significant indicator of predicting overall morality, notes the American College of Sports Medicine. Individuals who have a delayed decrease in heart rate recovery, in the first two minutes following an exercise stress test, are at an increased risk of dying of heart related complications. Conversely, a rapid decrease in heart rate following exercise is associated with a lower risk of coronary artery disease or having any sort of cardiovascular disease events such as a heart attack.

Cardiac Rehab and Heart Rate Recovery

Completing the prescribed cardiopulmonary physical therapy session is essential for full recovery and reducing your risk for future heart related events. A study published in Asian Cardiovascular and Thoracic Annals in 2008 tested the effects on the completion of cardiac rehab and heart rate recovery. The study found that patients who completed the entire cardiac rehab had significant improvement in peak heart rate and heart rate recovery regardless of patient and facility, thus decreasing their likelihood of having a future cardiac event or complication.