I too am active in Mended Hearts. When I was youngerww a doctor told me I would not die of heart disease - why? because I walked a lot. I have never had a serious heart attack, but years later, approaching the age of 65, I had a chest pain like I never had before, I had angioplasty, and shortly after reaching the age of 65, I had a stent and then a double bypass, and about 10 years later I had three more stents. Now at the age of 81 I wear a heart rate monitor when I do a Tabata workout, not to stay in a "safe range" but to see how far above my "maximum heart rate" I can get. My heart rate goes higher if I skip the Tabata workout for a couple of days - which shows how fast you can lose fitness when you don't work out. I'm not qualified to give medical advice, but I can tell you I didn't do the full four minutes when I started doing Tabata - I worked up to it. And I can tell you to be happy you didn't need open chest bypass - it took me three months to fully recover. I learned from Mended Hearts, first, once a heart patient always a heart patient, then, there is life after heart attack, and finally, "a" Mended Hearts motto: "It's great to be alive - and to help others!"View Thread