Let's set some goals! A throwdown!

[Chuck C]

I am going to put down some personal goals that I have set for myself as I recover from my valve surgery. I encourage all to do the same. We can encourage one another and keep each other accountable.

They can be weight related, fitness related, goals for recovery, getting ready for surgery, diet, or anything else. You can put a time frame on the goal if you wish to, or not.

My own goals:

I weighed 178 the day before my surgery and I now tip the scale at 185.

Goal: Get back to 178 within 3 months.

Goal: Spend at least 3 days per week lifting weights.

Goal: Climb Mt Monserate in less than 30 minutes

Goal: Take at least 14,000 steps per day on average. Smart phone apps are great to track this. Walking and running count- they count rotations on the bike and elliptical stepper also.



So, what are your goals?

 

[Critter]

I would like to get back in the water scuba diving again. Haven’t done it for 5 years now. Getting in good enough shape for a dive trip somewhere. I miss it. I used to do underwater photography. Had over 1000 dives in my past in several places around the world. Never did a dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef , even though mankind has torched it the last few decades. Also I want to go to Moab and do some rock climbing with my Kawasaki side by side. I want to go back and see Yellowstone again that would be cool.

 

[pellicle]

I want to go back and see Yellowstone again that would be cool.

I want to go back to Finland again ... that will be more than cool

but COVID

 

[Critter]

I would put the tank treads on the Teryx4. They sell em.

 

[Chuck C]

I would like to get back in the water scuba diving again

I used to do underwater photography. Had over 1000 dives in my past in several places around the world.

Amazing! Well done!

I'm a diver as well and after being away from it for a few years, I also plan to get back to it. So, I'll go ahead and add that to my list as well. Can't wait for October when lobster season opens up!

 

[Chuck C]

I want to go back to Finland again ... that will be more than cool

but COVID

Excellent!

 

[FredW]

I gave up on trying to loose weight. A month later, I got down to 185, a goal I had for over a year.

I just self-published my book that my daughter asked me to write. Now, I want to write a novel that I want to write.

I'll check back in a year and let you now how its going.

 

[Chuck C]

Now, I want to write a novel that I want to write.

Sounds great Fred! Please keep us posted.

And congratulations on finishing your book.

 

[Superman]

I lost a lot of weight a couple years back. I’m still 15-20 down from that level. I found 10-15 during Covid. So I’ll set a 15 lb goal for this summer. Just have to keep up the cardio. Eat until I’m not hungry instead of until I’m full. Cut out the sugar. And don’t eat after 8:00.

 

[Chuck C]

I found 10-15 during Covid

With the gyms closed, many did. Play it safe- stay home and keep pressing the Grub Hub app! lol

So I’ll set a 15 lb goal for this summer. Just have to keep up the cardio. Eat until I’m not hungry instead of until I’m full. Cut out the sugar. And don’t eat after 8:00.

Excellent!
That sounds like a winning strategy.

It is remarkable how the weight can come off when we cut out the sugar. For me, cutting sugar and processed foods allowed me to cut 25 pounds in 6 months. Then surgery happened and the freakin 3 courses a day room service from the hotel restaurant, I mean the hospital cafeteria. Beef Bourguignon anyone? Yeah, that was on the menu and really good BTW!
That coupled with the restrictions on exercise and I gave back half my gains over the course of 8 weeks.
But, I can now exercise hard again and will be reigning in the caloric intake as well.

 

[user 16827]

Hey @Chuck C
I have been on your journey and found that you can surpass your previous fitness level if you're intelligent with your approach.

Your surgery is still new in relative terms so I would not recommend that you overdo things. ( I did )

I find efficiency is the way forward.
A strong determined mindset helps but doesn't always win.

Give yourself plenty of rest to recover from your training and be mindful that your body still needs to recover from the trauma of the surgery.

Rest is really underestimated and if used correctly can send your fitness trajectory skywards.

Are you familiar with heart rate variability as a metric to see if you are ready to train ?
Or need rest ?
You can use your own HRV to train smart.

Good luck moving forward, I can see you up Mt Monserate in sub 25 minutes

 

[Chuck C]

I have been on your journey and found that you can surpass your previous fitness level if you're intelligent with your approach.

Thanks Leadville.

I have been hoping that this will be the case. When I went mechanical I gave up a couple of combat sports which I competed in, perhaps for the best, but I do enjoy pushing myself and always striving for self betterment. So, my hope was that post surgery I could switch to competing in endurance sports again, which I did some of when I was younger, competing in marathons and even a couple of ultra marathons. Although, I would not choose such distances again as I am now of the belief that it puts too much wear and tear strain on the body to go that distance; biking and swimming probably much kinder to the body.

I am really curious to see where I end up when I get to peak fitness. I can come up with a hypothesis that I should be able to surpass my previous fitness level; if I was able to achieve a certain level when my valve was 1.0cm2, now that I am 2.0cm2, perhaps I can achieve higher cardio output. Of course, it is more complex than that and only one way to find out. Regardless, even if I find that I am finding some other limitation on performance since surgery, it's all good. At the end of the day, I'm happy to have the calcified stenotic valve out of me and to be alive.

Are you familiar with heart rate variability as a metric to see if you are ready to train ?
Or need rest ?
You can use your own HRV to train smart.

I have a degree in Kinesiology and am a little familiar with HRV, but I have not personally used it. I have a Polar heart rate monitor which I use often and will look into getting the software needed to check out my HRV and read up on it. Thanks for the tip.

Good luck moving forward, I can see you up Mt Monserate in sub 25 minutes

I appreciate the vote of confidence. Pre-surgery my PR was 25:16. When I pushed myself moderately hard a few weeks ago I was at 35 minutes, so for now getting under 30 minutes seems a reasonable goal. But I would love to eventually get under 25, as that would signal to me that I've surpassed my pre-surgery fitness level. For now, I will be very happy if I get under 30 minutes.

Your surgery is still new in relative terms so I would not recommend that you overdo things. ( I did )

Do you mind sharing how you overdid your training after surgery? How long did you wait after surgery before you felt comfortable pushing 100%? I've got an appointment with my cardio soon and I suspect he might give me the green light to go full out. Even if he does so, I'm not sure that I will, as it seems an area where erring on the side of caution will be prudent.

 

[user 16827]

https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/hea... is literally,1.15 seconds between two others.


This is a good insight to start you off Chuck


25.15 is our new target

 

[Chuck C]

https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/hea... is literally,1.15 seconds between two others.


This is a good insight to start you off Chuck


25.15 is our new target

Just downloaded the Elite HRV app and took my first HRV measurement using my Polar H10. This will be fun to track!

 

[Chuck C]

https://www.whoop.com/thelocker/hea... is literally,1.15 seconds between two others.


This is a good insight to start you off Chuck


25.15 is our new target

I've been wearing my heart rate monitor a lot and my resting heart rate is now close to normal, 55-64, at least most of the time. What I found interesting is that it started to drop significantly once I started pushing the cardio training. It was different than the normal lowering of HR that we experience as we get conditioned, which takes months. Within weeks it dropped from resting of 78-94 to 55-64.

I'm eager to start using HRV to determine how hard I can train, or if I need more recovery. Interesting- HRV is is counter intuitive. With heart rate, lower is generally a sign of better conditioning. But, with HRV, higher is a sign of better conditioning or youth. Remarkable how much average HRV drops with age.

 

[user 16827]

You will probably notice your resting heart rate will stay slightly elevated if you're overtraing too, it's a guide but train to your HRV.

Sometimes less is more and this is where a strong mind can work against you.

train smarter for great results.
I always focus on proper electrolyte balance too Chuck it's very easy to overlook this .

I think with your strong determined Will, the knowledge you have and a focused approach there's no stopping you

 

[Al3x]

I'm still pre-op (4 weeks to go) but I like this idea. Here are my goals:

• Spend as much time as possible with my daughter before the operation
• Survive the operation
• Jog 5km within 6 months and run a half marathon within 12 months (ideally sub 90 minutes)

 

[Chuck C]

I'm still pre-op (4 weeks to go) but I like this idea. Here are my goals:

• Spend as much time as possible with my daughter before the operation
• Survive the operation
• Jog 5km within 6 months and run a half marathon within 12 months (ideally sub 90 minutes)

Those are great goals Al3x!

Best wishes on meeting them and on your upcoming surgery! Please keep us posted.

 

[Lynn]

Thanks to everyone for the information on HRV. As I have been working to bring down my resting heart rate since surgery I have been concerned that the variability might be a bad thing. (my heart rate is very responsive to activity) obviously didn’t understand this piece very well. I have more research to do on this, but it explains why my cardiac rehab Kinesiologist didn’t seem concerned and thought my heart was responding great to cardio and recovering great when we stopped.

It’s taken a while but the more I do, the more my resting heart rate is coming down. One of my goals is to climb a very steep local trail, doing the entire loop is at least 90 minutes of continuously changing elevations. I hadn‘t been able to do for at least 6 months before my surgery. The upper limit of my pacemaker is set at 140 and I know this needs to be adjusted first, I am pushing up against it all the time now.

 

[Superman]

Failed in late night chips. Passed with a salad for lunch and 45 minutes on the Peloton cranking 602 kj’s / 850 calories.

Win some, lose some.

Rode 11 outside miles with my wife and son yesterday, but he’s 9, so we weren’t setting any speed records. Had a lot more fun though!