Exercise For Congestive Heart Failure

Planning a Routine

• Planning your routine will help you set exercise goals for yourself. Your approach to exercise should be on a beginner level. As you begin to increase your exercise tolerance, you can increase duration of exercise. Remember to avoid weight lifting and other strenuous exercises. Start your exercise regiment by doing as little five minutes a day in two or three separate sessions. Your exercise routine should consist of nothing more laborious than walking if you have congestive heart failure.

Stretching & Walking

• Before you begin your walk, do some stretching exercises. With your feet touching one another, bend over as far as possible in an effort to touch your toes. Try to hold this position for 15 to 30 seconds. If you can't hold the position long that long, hold it for as long as you can. Remember, start slow and build up to longer durations and sequences. Begin your walk at a slow pace. If you're comfortable walking a faster pace by all means do so. Keep your walk short. If you can't walk five minutes, try one or two minutes until you can build up to longer walks.

Calisthenics

• As you increase your exercise tolerance you may be able to try calisthenics exercises. These include push ups, sit ups, crunches and aerobic movements. Don't do to much too soon. If you feel short of breath or fatigued during your workout, take a break. A good advanced calisthenics exercise for congestive heart failure is walking up stairs. Cycling in small segments of 10 to 15 minutes is another exercise good for congestive heart failure.