I did the standard 36-session cardiac rehab, but I wasn't well enough to do it until I was 3 months out from surgery. I was 63, and had been a regular "gym rat" for decades. I still started from ground zero. At first, I could only walk slowly on a treadmill. The rehab team was wonderful. They kept a careful watch on all of us, and helped me to push at 110% of what patients normally could do. By the final week, I was back to jogging and felt great (compared to how I felt at the start - I was still recovering, too).
Rehab was, to me, a very important part of the program. You will get out of it exactly what you put into it. I saw patients who had the attitude that "this is all too hard for me." They didn't improve very much over the months. I was the "bring it on" guy. If they asked "do you think you can to this?" I would say "yeah - and then some." We had fun, and I saw really encouraging improvements all through the program. Don't be afraid - you are being monitored very carefully. Push as hard as you think you can, then just a bit harder. They will stop you if anything gets out of control. The harder you push, the more you will gain from it. But no matter how you do it, plan to enjoy it. For me, it was just another day at the gym. I did rehab 3 days a week, and the other 2 days I did the same routine at my regular fitness center. Now, at 4 1/2 years out, nobody can ever believe that I've had all the heart procedures that I went through. I feel really good, too.
