Cardiac rehabilitation is a medically supervised program in partnership with a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals that helps improve the social condition, mental and physical health, and well-being of people who have heart problems. The program consists of 4 phases, which include exercise training, education on heart-healthy living, and counselling to reduce stress and help patients return to an active life in a timely manner.

4 Phases in Cardiac Rehabilitation

• The initial phase of cardiac rehabilitation will begin as soon as after a cardiac event or cardiac surgery, when you are still in the hospital. Based on your condition and response, a progressively less strenuous exercise program will be implemented during the length of your stay and the exercise goals will be established and communicated to you and your family each day. Education on home-exercise walking, home activities precaution, daily dietary and lifestyle management will be given by the members of the cardiac rehabilitation team.
• Phase II is the early outpatient exercise program. You will be referred by the physician to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre, where you will be scheduled to start the program within 1 week to 1 month after discharge from the hospital. A closely monitored exercise program is emphasised in this phase, and the program is designed by a trained physiotherapist to meet your individual needs, depending on the specific heart problem or disease. It consists of warm-up exercises, exercises targeting cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and ends with a cool-down session.
• Phase III is an advanced outpatient exercise program as a progression of phase II that also takes place in the Adventist Vibrant Heart Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre. It involves a more intense level of exercise based on the doctor’s recommendation and your goal. At the same time, you will continue to be monitored for your body’s response to the increased workload.

Cardio Fitness Program

This program contains cardio exercise and strength training exercises, which can raise your heart rate and also improve your body metabolism. Strength training in this programme targets your large muscle groups.

Components involved:

• Interval training to improve aerobic power should involve low or high-intensity intervals with 1 to 2 minutes recovery in between. Warm up and cool down (around 10 minutes) at low intensity aerobic pace are important during interval training.
• Strength training consists of different types of exercises that use resistance to induce muscle contraction, which can build strength, anaerobic endurance, and the size of skeletal muscles. The basic principles of strength training involve the number of repetitions (reps), sets, force to cause changes in strength, endurance and size by overloading a group of muscles. Sample of strength training: 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions of a resistance training exercise for each major muscle group at an intensity of 40% to 80% of a one-repetition max (RM). Rest in between exercise sets is recommended to allow for proper muscle recovery.