Physical activity is good for your overall health. But the type of exercise that is appropriate varies depending on how severe your aortic valve stenosis is and whether you have symptoms. You will need to discuss with your doctor what kind of exercise is safe for you.

If you do not have symptoms

If you have mild stenosis, you will not need to restrict the level or type of physical exercise you do in any way. But if you have moderate to severe stenosis (a valve area of 1.5 to 1.0 cm² as determined by an echocardiogram), you should avoid strenuous activities such as weight lifting or sprinting. If stenosis is severe, you should limit your physical activity to relatively low levels.

In rare cases, extremely strenuous physical activity can cause sudden death (death without any symptoms or warning), even among people who don't have symptoms of aortic valve stenosis. In these instances, sudden death is caused by severe arrhythmia, an irregularity in the heartbeat that is more dangerous when it occurs in a person who has an impaired valve.

If you have symptoms and do not have valve replacement surgery

Unless your doctor recommends against it, you should stay physically active throughout the course of heart disease, even when you develop heart failure. While you should not take part in strenuous physical activity or competitive sports, it is vital that you maintain some type of light exercise program under your doctor's guidance, to help maintain your heart's strength.

In addition to helping relieve symptoms of heart failure, exercise not only helps you stay at a healthy weight but also improves circulation, lowers blood pressure, and improves cholesterol levels—all of which will benefit your heart.

For many people it is advisable to just do light aerobic activity, such as walking.

You should absolutely avoid intense isometric exercise, which includes weightlifting and exercises such as push-ups that require you to move against a heavy resistance. These types of exercises can raise your blood pressure, which increases the force against which your heart must pump blood. As a rule, you should avoid activities that involve a sudden level of physical exertion that is significantly greater than that required for basic activities.