Cardiac Rehab - What is Phase 4?

Phase IV cardiac rehab is really the maintenance phase of cardiac rehabilitation.

Generally when you've finished a hospital-based phase II, III outpatient program, you'll be offered programs out in the community.

They may be at your local rec center, or perhaps at the local YMCA, or even private gym.

But here's really a chance for you to return to a lot of the activities that you enjoyed perhaps prior to your heart event.

If you enjoyed sports, or outdoor activity like kayaking and hiking, and all those kinds of things, here's an opportunity for you to use those types of things to keep you healthy for life.

Also, there's a chance for you to connect with a local trainer just to refresh your program, try something new, also to touch base with them over time to see what are some other things that you could do.

And you can also touch base with your local dietitian or nutritionist just to make sure that you're staying on top of your diet and that you're not slipping back into ways that perhaps would cause damage long term.

Talk to your healthcare professional team in your phase II, III hospital-based program about phase IV community programs that are available in your area.

Alternatively, you can also talk to your family doctor or cardiologist about community-based phase IV programs close to you.