Keeping the Pace After Pulmonary Rehab

Keeping the pace after Pulmonary Rehab

Just graduated from Pulmonary Rehab? Congrats!  Now you need to keep up all the gains you’ve earned. I’m sure your rehab therapist harped on you every possible moment- join a gym! Join a walking group! And for good reason. Before I go one character further I want to drive home this point: if you are on oxygen, use it. Don’t skimp. If your MD has prescribed 02 for exercise, going for a short walk without it can seriously damage your heart.

In short, when you get moving, your heart works harder to supply blood to the now-working muscles. If the blood is oxygen- poor, your heart works that much harder to supply the muscles with as much oxygen as it can by pumping faster and harder. At some point, you will have to stop because the muscles just won’t work without oxygen and you will get very tired. I go through this in depth in my course, COPD success. But for now, PLEASE be sure to use your oxygen and titrate it to your exertion level as your RT hopefully taught you.

If you joined a gym, or are making use of the exercise area where you live, congrats!

If you are waiting to find a place to work out, here are some things you can do in the meantime:

Meetup.com – find others with similar interests near you. Walking or hiking groups, gardening groups, just about everything.

No Meetup groups near you? Start one!

Mall walkers – Google mall walkers in [your city] or visit the concierge at your local mall. No MallWalkers groups? Start one!