Can you help me?

Yes certainly! If you have any of the following issues I can devise an individualised Programme to improve your fitness

  • Heart conditions such as Angina, high blood pressure, arrhythmias and heart failure
  • Post cardiac procedure or event such as heart attack, stenting, pacemaker or ICD insertion, CABG or valve replacement/repair
  • Health and lifestyle issues such as Diabetes or weight loss

How will it work?

We will agree a programme of exercise in a safe and structured manner to meet your aims and goals. Every session, we will work to improve your cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength. Small,sustainable changes will be introduced into your daily routine each week, that, hopefully, will become healthy habits for life.

Throughout your programme, you will have regular heart rate and blood pressure checks to ensure you are achieving the results that you want and need. We will regularly review your programme to maintain enjoyment and maximise results

How Hard Should I Be Working?

Improvement in your fitness is achievable through structured moderate intensity physical activity. This means working hard enough so that your breathing is a bit quicker and deeper than when you are resting but not so hard that you are unable to talk and move around at the same time.

The aim is to work hard enough to achieve the cardio-protective benefits of regular exercise whilst not pushing your body, particularly your heart, too hard.

During exercise your heart will beat faster to increase the supply of blood and oxygen to the working muscles. Therefore we will monitor your heart rate as one measure of how hard you are working. In cardiac rehabilitation we also use a Rate of Perceived Exertion (or Borg scale)as a subjective measure of how hard you feel you are working, again to ensure you are working at an appropriate level. In the warm-up we are looking for you to be working around 10 -11 - “fairly light” whilst in the main part of your conditioning programme we are aiming for 11 -14 or “moderate to somewhat hard” where you may experience some breathlessness but still feel able to continue. If you find you are beyond this level towards “hard,” level 15, we will reduce the intensity and slow down a little.

I will show you how to self- monitor safely to remain within your target training heart rate range and within the 11-14 Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale so you get maximum benefit safely.

Rating of Perceived Exertion Borg RPE Scale

6 No exertion at all
7 Extremely light
8
9 Very light
10
11 Light
12
13 Somewhat hard
14
15 Hard
16
17 Very hard
18
19 Extremely hard
20 Maximal exertion