Tell me about Cardiac Rehab
Hi All, I had my triple bypass in April and when I went to visit the cardiologist a couple months afterwards I fully expected to be placed in a cardiac rehab program. I was very surprised to hear her say that, since I didn't actually have a "heart attack" before my surgery, she didn't think I needed a rehab program... Instead she suggested I get into a "Lifestyle Management" program where there is no supervised excercise, just education on excercise and diet. It sounded good to me - but then I learned it was all done on-line and over the phone (no one-on-one with a real person) and cost nearly $400/year. Well I don't think there is much they can teach me about diet that I don't already know (and too my Mother-in- Law is a Registered Dietician) and I doubt they can help me with excercise over the phone! I couldn't see getting any benefit from the program - so I'm on my own. I had really hoped for a supervised rehab exercise program to get back into exercising. Before my surgery I was visiting the health club 2 or 3 times a week. I've been trying to get back into doing that but I have no idea how I should be starting, how long I should be riding the exercise bike, or how much weight I should be lifting, etc. (I can see that guys at the health club - the muscle guys who bench press 200+ pounds - are amused to see me sit down at the machine and slowly bench press 10 pounds. :) Can y'all tell me about your cardiac rehab programs and give me some advice on the exercise program? - Jamey