Exercise how much is too much?

[mikeccolella]

I used to do HIIT Training and now feeling good 4 months post op I thought I'd give it a try. With HIIT for anyone not familiar you go hard for a minute or two getting your heart rate up to around 90% of max. I am 64 and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on this. I mean is it wise or just plain stupid? Is anyone doing it and their experience with would be much appreciated. The Advantage with High Intensity Interval Training is that you get a lot of gain with minimal time involved.

https://www.acsm.org/docs/brochures/high-intensity-interval-training.pdf

 

[Paleowoman]

My cardiac rehab nurse had me doing a kind of HIT training - I would do a set of weights at high intensity for a few minutes, then do something slowly for a minute, then back to high intensity for a couple of mins and the slowly for a minute and so on - not at 90% then though. The kind of superslow weight lifting I did pre op and now post op employs a HIT techniue - lifting for 60 to 90 seconds at 90% max then change exercise and do the 60 to 90 second intense exertion again and so on. Do you have a heart rate monitor ? If you do and know what rate you can take your heart up to use that as guidance, but since you are only four months post op you might do lower intensity than 90%. Do listen to your body !

 

[mikeccolella]

Hi Anne and thanks. Your right about listening to ones body. I got to thinking reading your thread where Steve mentioned beta blockers. I am on tenolol a bb and I am thinking that heart rate exercise just might be something that won't work with the way bb's slow it down and all. He seems to suggest they limit ones ability to even do high intensity stuff.

 

[epstns]

The BB sure took a toll on my exercise intensity, and still does. Before surgery, I was a runner. . . then as things progressed, a jogger. I used to regularly get my HR up to the mid-160's (when I was in my late 50's and early 60's). In cardiac rehab, while on a 100 mg/day dose of metoprolol, I could only get up to about 100-120 BPM. Now, 6 1/2 years later (and getting close to 70 years old), I rarely can get my max HR over 135-140 -- and I'm still taking 25 mg/day of the metoprolol.

I'm not sure how all the electronics and chemistry work, but I thought the BB would have less impact on my max HR since I have a pacemaker which is set to allow a max HR of up to 160 BPM. The pacemaker also has sensors to increase my HR when required, driven by my respiratory rate as well as motion (like the bouncing of walking or running.) Somehow, though, with the BB and pacemaker, my heart has determined that it doesn't want to go over the 135-140 BPM range and I just have to make the best of what I get. I can't imagine what an unhappy slug I would be if I still took the 100 mg/day of BB.

 

[mikeccolella]

Hi Steve, thanks for that information. I guess measuring heart rate probably wont make a lot of sense. Ive already noticed a difference. I think perceived exertion might be the better option.