3 week follow up and good news

[Nicholas288]

Had my follow up appointments with my cardiologist and surgeon on Thursday. Everything looks good. i have been walking 5-6 miles a day so they don't think I need cardiac rehab. My surgeon is being pretty firm on no upper body exercise of any kind until week 8. My question is what are people doing in cardiac rehab? I have a treadmill and a aerodyne ( bike that works arms and legs with a fan as resistance) in my basement but don't know if I should really do nothing but walk for the next 5 weeks. Seems like a long time and the walking is a bit boring.
Thanks
Nick

 

[nngbwh]

Keep up the good work !!!!. You rather be boring than hurt yourself.

 

[karen14]

Hi! I agree with nngbwh, better to be bored than hurt yourself! You are actually amazing! Walking 6 miles already? Wow! And no upper body means just that (& the bike would strain the upper body as well). I'd be careful. Better to be safe than sorry. =P

 

[ottagal]

Hi Nick,
Sounds like you are 'moving' right along. That is great! I am in rehab and doing 15 minutes of fast walk, 20 on the elliptical machine as well as stretching and 'light weights (5 lbs). Some in rehab use the exercise (Schwinn) bike and/or treadmill. Being a female and a small build, makes 5 lbs enough for the meantime. I only started rehab almost 11 weeks out of surgery, but that is because I was recovering from complications. Hope this helps!

 

[Johan]

You don't want to hurt yourself, that is why we are not allowed to drive for 6 weeks. In my case cardio rehab only commenced after week 8, and then with light weights....

 

[nngbwh]

You need time to heal your sternum. Take it nice and slow. During my recovery all I done was walk.
You will become a Superman again.

 

[Nicholas288]

Thanks all
Nick

 

[JeffM]

If you can manage to safely get on the bike without using your hands, you can ride with no hands. Keep the resistance light/gearing easy and just focus on your pedalling efficiency. Wear a heart rate monitor so you can keep your HR under control. This is what I did at 3 weeks along with treadmill and outdoor fast walks. I kept my HR no higher than 130ish. I was amazed at how quickly it would should up that high with just the slightest grade or increase in cadence as I was so out of shape. Pay attention to how your body responds for the next 12 hours following a workout. This will help you gauge whether you are over doing it. At this stage, better to err on the side of too easy than too hard. I didn't do rehab either. My docs never even mentioned it to me.