If you have a heart attack and they say your heart muscles weakened from a 60 to a 30 does this mean it can not be strengthened to a 60 again?

I had a heart attack in June of 2008. My heart measured 38 when I was released from the hospital. I’m in a cardiac rehab program and attend two times one week, one the next (due to my work schedule). When I went in for my 6 month checkup, my heart had improved to 48.

I hear different things from different people. Some at rehab tell me I’m not supposed to over exert myself, but I plug away, huffing and puffing and sweating like a crazy woman. The staff seems to think I’m doing great with my methods. My line of reasoning is – if I’m at work fighting with a 25 year old man who’s higher than a kite, I want to know that my heart can keep up the pace.

While working out, I keep my heart rate between 125 and 135. For my stress test, I had to have my rate at 146–153 for 5 minutes. That’s too high to do for 20 minutes straight (hence the term “stress test”).

thank you so much for your answer so then it is possible to strengthen the heart muscle then. Anyone have have an experience with this? Did you have any stents put in or anything?

I’m the proud owner of a titanium stent, yes.

how many arteries were blocked and how many stents did you have put in?