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”).