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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n By the time Elle Pendrick was eight, she had undergone three open-heart surgeries \u2013 one at three days old, one at six years and another at eight.<\/p>\n In between the countless hospital visits that shaped her childhood, she also missed out on something most kids take for granted: sport.<\/p>\n Pendrick, now 43, was born with complex congenital heart disease, one of a group of conditions affecting the heart\u2019s structure. It\u2019s the most common birth condition in Australia<\/a>, affecting around one in 100 live-born babies.<\/p>\n For a long time, children like Pendrick grew up believing physical activity was not just bad, but dangerous.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember often sitting on the sidelines watching the kids play sport, hanging out with the teachers or going to an arts and crafts session instead,\u201d says Pendrick.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick Still, growing up in country NSW where sport was common, her parents signed her up for weekend extracurriculars like hockey and athletics. But because she believed her condition to be incompatible with exercise, Pendrick never enjoyed it, and her confidence took a hit.<\/p>\n \u201cI hated it. I was freezing. I was miserable \u2026 and it also instilled this theory that I\u2019m not good athletically \u2026 I always came last,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Then the perception that exercise is damaging for people with congenital heart disease began to radically change in the 1990s. Maybe, some researchers started to think, it could even help.<\/p>\n Among them was Professor Andrew Coats, a cardiologist and now CEO of the Heart Research Institute.<\/p>\n In the late 1980s while working at Oxford University, Coats had found success using exercise to treat high blood pressure. When he transferred this method to patients with heart failure, it improved outcomes.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people with congenital heart disease end up with a heart failure-like problem, so quite a few years later, people in the CHD area started wondering if their patients could also benefit,\u201d he explains, while pointing out the condition is far more complex than other heart problems, and it\u2019s taken time to accumulate data.<\/p>\n Today, exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation for congenital heart disease is the recommended standard of care globally, and part of the reason why many adults, like Pendrick, are among the first generation to outlive the disease<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dr Rachael Cordina, a cardiologist at Sydney\u2019s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA), says advancements in care for those born with heart disease over the past few decades, like physical therapy, have revolutionised survival rates \u2013 although she points out exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation is \u201cstill not deeply embedded in our clinical care pathways\u201d, and is resource-intensive for most patients.<\/p>\n She says exercise has been particularly beneficial for those born with a single functional heart ventricle and have undergone what\u2019s called the Fontan circulation [Pendrick has a different kind of heart disease].<\/p>\n \u201cNo other medication has ever come close in terms of improving the performance of the cardiovascular system in those patients. Exercise is the best medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Derek Tran, principal exercise physiologist at RPA\u2019s Department of Cardiology, says one of the main benefits of exercise in the setting of congenital heart disease is that it \u201ccan increase muscle mass, which allows access to structural support for blood vessels to improve circulation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Tran, who is about to conclude the world\u2019s largest clinical exercise trial for those living with congenital heart disease, says his and Cordina\u2019s research has shown patients \u201cwho are fitter and readily participate in exercise often have better long-term outcomes, and it can potentially shift their disease trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n This research is helping inform personalised guidance for patients around exercise, which they\u2019re starting to implement in specialised care pathways and using to develop a lifestyle and exercise clinic.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick After her fifth and most recent open-heart surgery at 33, Pendrick began to experience these benefits first-hand.<\/p>\n \u201cWithin days, I was out of bed and doing laps of the ward, and once I went home I joined cardiac rehabilitation at Canberra Hospital, which changed everything,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n In the decade since, exercise has become an important part of Pendrick\u2019s life. She\u2019s competed in three City2Surfs (walking), and enjoys Pilates as well as riding her electric bike with her husband.<\/p>\n But integrating exercise into her life has been a learning curve as she discovers what her limits are, and about adapting movement to her condition.<\/p>\n As Cordina points out, most exercise advice for those with heart disease is designed for patients, often older, who develop it through lifestyle factors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe often hear that patients have gone to see a personal trainer, and they find it quite upsetting because the trainer is pushing them and has unrealistic expectations of what that person\u2019s going to be able to do with their cardiovascular challenges,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Living with medical trauma<\/a> (Pendrick has had over 20 surgeries, including 5 open-heart surgeries) can also make exercise challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t realise until I started seeing a trauma therapist that my nervous system couldn\u2019t necessarily tell the difference between when my body was under exercise stress and medical stress,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n Editor’s pick \u201cI might experience nightmares and flashbacks and not sleep well \u2013 I\u2019d find it distressing for a few days until the muscles had healed themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The benefits of exercise go beyond the physical as well, given children with congenital heart disease are at greater risk of mental health<\/a> problems, including anxiety, depression<\/a> and PTSD.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve often had years of being told by caring friends and relatives that, \u2018oh, you\u2019ve got a weak heart, you shouldn\u2019t exercise\u2019. But obviously in younger people, they\u2019ve also got the enthusiasm, they want to be lively,\u201d says Coates.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, exercise can free them up, and they can do more, and that is a huge social enabler because there\u2019s often group exercise, they can participate in sports.\u201d<\/p>\n While living with a complex, chronic illness can be tough, Pendrick says finding a community of others like her has been invaluable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe community is incredibly important. You can learn, benchmark yourself and ask all the dumb questions that you can\u2019t ask your friends. It\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox<\/a> every Monday.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Elle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c3636793985d8f94217b39779d82adaab1f88093.jpeg\")
Elle Pendrick was born with congenital heart disease, grew up sitting on the sidelines of sport. She now enjoys bike riding and Pilates.Natalie Grono<\/p>\n![\"For](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cba15546a1d59846bd7c62a08ccd85d61993dc75.jpeg\")
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Pendrick aged 21, recovering from her fourth open-heart surgery.Courtesy of Elle Pendrick<\/p>\n![\"\u201cI](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/efb18f00bbf9fc2f27be38af6554f1955dc30a3b.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Pendrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2fac3c3b5c1a2037ce8206c2dfb1bbbcf39d3099.jpeg\")
Pendrick in 2024 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital as part of a Heart Research Institute study into exercise and congenital heart disease, and after completing the City2Surf in 2017.Courtesy of Elle\u00a0Pendrick<\/p>\n![\"Steph](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c3419d296a6865961c5136c1c5bb97d81e256ac9.jpeg\")
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