2009 15 Nov

Exercise And The Heart

We are rightly concerned today about the prevalence of heart disease and its results among our people. Considerable research is being done on its causes and remedies that is of great interest to us all. In the process, the prescription of exercise is being given considerable attention. Some of our greatest medical authorities of the day have come to the conclusion that exercise plays a very important part in the prevention of heart problems and in the rehabilitation of the cardiac patient.

The great heart specialist, Dr. Paul Dudley White, has expressed his opinion strongly in favor of exercise in the prevention of heart disease, and has made his views public in many articles and statements.

Dr. William G. Leaman, Jr., cardiologist at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, has much to say in his Management of the Cardiac Patient published by the J. B. Lippin-cott Co. in his chapter “The Prescription of Exercise.”

Dr. Wilhelm Raab, Professor of Experimental Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, in his article “Degenerative Heart Disease from Lack of Exercise” appearing in the publication, Exercise and Fitness, published by the Athletic Institute, 1960, concludes with the following paragraph: “The inactivity-induced neurovegetative imbalance is reversible by appropriate and persistent exercise training. With the necessary precautions such training is applicable also to overt cardiac patients, and in particular, to seemingly healthy, yet quietly degenerating sedentary adults, for whose benefit the establishment of organized mass-reconditioning centers and programs like those already existing in other countries, is being urged.”

Doctors Hans Kraus and Wilhelm Raab in the work Hypokine-tic Disease published by the Charles C Thomas Publishers of Springfield, Illinois have much of interest for us in their chapter, “Athlete’s Heart Versus Loafer’s Heart.”

Such a list of medical doctors and their work in relation to the heart and exercise could be continued to great length. It has been the experience of this writer that controlled exercise to suit the ability of the individual has always resulted in an improvement in his capacity for effort and more freedom from fatigue.

After a person has suffered a “heart attack,” the degree of effort he should spend in exercise is a question that can only be answered by his physician. If his physician assures him that he can indulge in moderate physical activity with benefit, some basic factors should be kept in mind. The use of small muscle groups places little demand upon the heart. Large muscle groups, working together, place strong demands upon the heart.

Many exercises to improve posture and mechanics use the smaller muscle groups of the body and can be practiced with considerable effort without placing undue stress upon the heart.

The larger muscle groups, such as the back and leg muscles, require much more oxygen for their effort and is the reason they are valuable to improve the strength of the heart, lungs and vessels, but their use in exercise of the one with a history of heart disturbance must be observed closely. Usually effort of the large muscle groups can be tolerated well if few repetitions are used. The demand on the heart increases very rapidly when more than ten counts in a motion involving the large muscle groups are used. If the counts are kept below ten, the individual usually has no difficulty with their performance.

If resistance is used, it should be kept well within the ability of the individual to use it with comfort. The intelligent use of weight resistance exercise is the most adaptable and indicated form of exercise yet found for the improvement of the physical condition of all, including the one with a history of heart disturbance.

The individual who has suffered a “heart attack,” is in a unique position. If he does not exercise his heart, lungs and vessels sufficiently, he invites a further loss of their capacity for function. If he demands more effort of them than they can tolerate, he invites more trouble. To arrive at a specific prescription of exercise for him is difficult. This is no place for self medication or experimentation. The sincere person will seek his doctor’s advice and the help of qualified instructors in the field to guide him in his prescription of exercise. He can then look forward to most satisfactory improvement in his general physical condition, accomplished within his particular margins of safety.

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