Beyond Cardiac Rehab begins where survival leaves off.
After a heart attack, Joe followed the expected path. He took the medications, completed cardiac rehab, listened to his doctors, and did what he was told to do. But once the emergency was over and the structured recovery ended, he found himself facing a different question: what now?
This book tells the story of what happened after survival. The confusion. The weight regain. The medication changes. The gaps between medical specialties. The realization that cardiac recovery was not just about the heart, but about the entire system inside the body.
Through tracking, protein, strength training, body recomposition, and a deeper understanding of metabolic health, Joe began rebuilding from the inside out. The framework that eventually emerged from this process became High Protein Metabolic Recomposition, or HPMR. It is explored more completely in High Protein Metabolic Recomposition, published under Joe Regina.
This is not a textbook or a medical manual. It is a personal case study from someone who lived through the event, completed the expected path, and realized there was still more work to do. Joe eventually lost 90 pounds while tracking only 3.5 pounds of lean mass lost. To him, it was not ordinary weight loss. It was recomposition. It was proof that the goal was never to become smaller at any cost. The goal was to become stronger, healthier, and more capable after a life changing cardiac event.
Beyond Cardiac Rehab is for anyone who has survived something serious, finished the first stage of recovery, and wondered what comes next. It is for the person who does not want to stop at survival. The person who wants to ask better questions, understand their body more deeply, work with their doctors, and take ownership of the years they were given.
The message is bigger than cardiac recovery alone. The principles in this book are adaptable. They can meet people where they are, no matter their age, starting point, past failures, or how far away better health may feel. You do not have to be young. You do not have to be perfect. You do not have to have everything figured out before you begin. You only have to be willing to start, learn, adjust, and keep going.
A cardiac event can change the way you see your life, but it does not have to become the final definition of that life. It is never too late to become healthier, stronger, and more capable. There can be strength after fear, clarity after confusion, and health after survival.
