13 weeks post op BENCH PRESSING ADVICE?

[Sethgold]

Hello I am 36 years old with a new pulmoinic valve. 13 weeks post op. Before surgery i was in the gym 4 times a week 2 hours per , weights and treadmill were no problem( no external symptoms, just an enlarged RV bad PS since birth, 1st OHS at 3 Years old ) . Today i have been in the gym for the last 2 weeks treadmill for 30 - 40 min, 3-4 times a week ( i feel fine , maybee even better, lower heart rate). My cardio says stay below 130 BPM. Also i have only been doing Biceps and triceps. i have put on some weight and would like to lose it. i really want to start on Bench press and other upper body movements, I am wondering if anyone else is benching and when they started. The surgeon said 6 weeks, the Cardio says 3-6 months?? Is the bone healed? Can the scar stretch? Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Seth

 

[BillCobit]

Hello I am 36 years old with a new pulmoinic valve. 13 weeks post op. Before surgery i was in the gym 4 times a week 2 hours per , weights and treadmill were no problem( no external symptoms, just an enlarged RV bad PS since birth, 1st OHS at 3 Years old ) . Today i have been in the gym for the last 2 weeks treadmill for 30 - 40 min, 3-4 times a week ( i feel fine , maybee even better, lower heart rate). My cardio says stay below 130 BPM. Also i have only been doing Biceps and triceps. i have put on some weight and would like to lose it. i really want to start on Bench press and other upper body movements, I am wondering if anyone else is benching and when they started. The surgeon said 6 weeks, the Cardio says 3-6 months?? Is the bone healed? Can the scar stretch? Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Seth

Hi Seth

I started benching some very light weights (135) starting approx 3 months out from surgery (I was 44 at the time). My sternum hurt a little bit when I did that - I'll bet it was 8-9 months before I could do benches w/o discomfort. Pull-ups and lat pulls bothered me as well. Other exercises were OK. Until the discomfort stopped, I just took it easy w/ benches and pull-ups. I don't know if I could have been more aggressive or not. My thought was that minor discomfort was OK, but if an activity was painful, then it must not be good.

I'm not much of a lifter these days. I just try to preserve some muscle and joint strenght so I don't hurt my back getting out of bed or blow out my elbow unwrapping a twinkie...stuff like that. There are others at VR that take lifting more seriously, so I hope you get some more useful responses from them.

Glad to hear you are feeling so well. Best wishes for continued recovery!

 

[MarkU]

Hi Seth,
My experience is similar to Bill's. I started lifting again about three months after my AVR. My cardiologist asked me to stick to high reps with moderate weights. As I have gotten more involved in triathlons, I have significantly reduced the amount of lifting I am doing - I am trying to get smaller so I have less mass to haul around during races.
In the past year both my pulse and blood pressure have come down significantly as I have focused on my aerobic fitness.
Good luck and be careful with your lifting.
Mark

 

[Tom F.]

I hit the gym six weeks to the day of my surgery, it was my goal. I did some bench work, but on machines, not free weights. I lifted very light, and I did each rep very very slowly. I had some muscle soreness, but that was all. I was told that at 6 weeks your chest is maybe 80% healed, but that the healing goes on for maybe six months. I was fine, but I certainly had the feeling that were I to go heavy I might get myself into big trouble.

 

[Brian]

Seth,
I returned to work for a day 1 month after my surgery and full time after 6 weeks. My job is definately not an office job and is quite or can be quite physical. I was walking at a very fast pace on the treadmill long before I went back to work and doing light weights as well as heavier weights( bicep curls), it all depends on how your sternum feels. Many were right, it took 9 months for my sternum to not sting even a little bit after I did something, I just felt it was a reminder for me to back off. The docs on my 1.5 month post op visit told me to go home and live my life with no resctrictions including weights...now if I would only make time and take the time to get back into it..I know I would have more energy..

Brian

 

[inlaguna]

I had surgery November 30th of 2004 and I am back to doing some lifting as well as running 3-5 miles a day on treadmill. My heart rate gets up to about 150 give or take and my cardio did not have a problem with that.

I started to lift weights about 8 weeks post op and have been sticking to the lighter weight and more reps theory. I feel a slight sensation around the incision, but have had little pain recently. I do different upper body stuff including bench press.

Since I can run at a much greater clip since surgery, I have lost about 8 pounds. Most think I must still be recovering since I have thinned down.

Dan

 

[mick]

I had surgery November 30th of 2004 and I am back to doing some lifting as well as running 3-5 miles a day on treadmill. My heart rate gets up to about 150 give or take and my cardio did not have a problem with that.

I started to lift weights about 8 weeks post op and have been sticking to the lighter weight and more reps theory. I feel a slight sensation around the incision, but have had little pain recently. I do different upper body stuff including bench press.

Since I can run at a much greater clip since surgery, I have lost about 8 pounds. Most think I must still be recovering since I have thinned down.

Dan[/QUOTE
April 17th will be 3 full months since my AVR surgery. As soon as possible i was walking. I was lifting very light weights at 2 months now I am still very careful with the lifting and use this criteria. My surgeron (who is an avid weight lifter) told me no weights that would cause me to have to hold my breath to lift. So although I dearly love to lift and would love to get bigger I have accepted the fact of just staying toned and in good shape. I think you can find that right balance with lighter weights and more reps. Good luck to you. This is a great website it has been such a blessing to me.

Mick

 

[ar bee]

HR limit

HR limit

do you know the reason why your cardio does not want you to go beyond 130 (ie 72.2% of max heart rate) ??

well2u
ar bee

 

[Don Giaquinto]

Hello I am 36 years old with a new pulmoinic valve. 13 weeks post op. Before surgery i was in the gym 4 times a week 2 hours per , weights and treadmill were no problem( no external symptoms, just an enlarged RV bad PS since birth, 1st OHS at 3 Years old ) . Today i have been in the gym for the last 2 weeks treadmill for 30 - 40 min, 3-4 times a week ( i feel fine , maybee even better, lower heart rate). My cardio says stay below 130 BPM. Also i have only been doing Biceps and triceps. i have put on some weight and would like to lose it. i really want to start on Bench press and other upper body movements, I am wondering if anyone else is benching and when they started. The surgeon said 6 weeks, the Cardio says 3-6 months?? Is the bone healed? Can the scar stretch? Any advice would be great.
Thanks
Seth

Well, I can tell you this much. I am just shy of 5 weeks post op and I just called my surgen because I was feeling tightness in my chest and when I took a deep breath, I could feel my heart pounding against my sternum. He said this was normal and just as long as I didn't feel any movement in the sternum all should be OK.

He also said that even though they give "6-weeks" as the point to where the sternum is basically healed, by no means can I go back to what I was doing before. He knows my previous life style: a pretty dedicated weight lifter, an advid cyclist, a tree climber for 27 years {you get the picture.}

Yes, I can start driving again after 6 weeks and start doing those things I used to do maybe on a passive level. He has said more than a few times "probably about 6 months from now you'll start waking up and going through your day without thinking about me."

I really believe that it will take 6 months or more. I mean, I am 49 years old and not a very good paitent. I spent 4 days and 4 hours in the hospital after this surgury and would have lied my way out just to get home. I think it was the day after I got home I was doing passive house work {not a good idea.}

I am doing something everyday and most days I feel it by the PM. Yesterday was not too good. I was trying to restrain our 41/2 month Golden Retriever and he was pulling on the leash pretty hard. I hold my elbows close to my body to reduse the strain on my chest. Right after this my wife ran into me by accident {or so she says } and her shoulder went right into my sternum. It's things like that, that scare the hell out of me and right now my chest is tight with some pain.

The point is....................I can't see me getting back to where I was before.... till this fall. Really! Believe me, I hate to say that and I sincerly hope that it won't take that long but I am just trying to be realistic. And I'll tell you what, the first time I get under that olyimpic bar, I will do so with great apprehension and all I will be visualizing is my sternum splitting apart like the red sea

Good Luck,

Don G