Probably Been Asked 8,000 Times -- How much exercise is safe, pre-surgery?

[bumtickerj]

Bill,

I'm about as active as you, well I was. I had a pulmonary valve replacement 9 days ago. Prior to my PVR I trained 6 days a week, including running (3x a week), swimming, weight lifting (CrossFit), trained in martial arts, and competed in triathlons. However, my surgery/defect was related to a complex congenital heart defect and not centered around my aorta. Anyhow, I've been told varying facts about weight lifting and my defect/valve post-surgery. My cardiologist says no more weight lifting b/c as I strain to lift, the pressures inside my heart spike and damage my valves, however my surgeon gave me the all clear for weight lifting once I finish rehab in 6-12weeks. Both cleared me for as much cardio/aerobic work as I desire. I find a lot of cardiologists aren't used to dealing with young adults who are in top physical condition and who are used to training/working out at high intensities, so that may often hinder their outlook/treatment of you.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

One final note, I will say it's very humbling going from running 10mi the day before my PVR surgery to struggling to walk 10minutes or to go from swimming miles to getting tired after taking a shower.

 

[Shobu]

Hi Bill, sorry to hear about your issues. I used to lift a lot before my first surgery as well as a couple of martial arts as well and was bummed out when they told me no exercise pre-op. I went back to pretty much all my activities except lifting heavy post-op. Went low weight high rep, since I had an AVR with a biological valve. Still did MA's, swimming, boxing, even took some scuba classes, so pretty much everything was "back to normal" post-op. Actually took even better care of myself post-op than before I was diagnosed. I also had some aortic work done, have a fancy dacron sheath now. Even so, my surgeon has told me even with the mechanical valve I have now, not to do heavy lifting. My girlfriend likes "toned and athletic" more than "big and muscular"; can't say I'm a poster child for the former, but considering I can do everything except heavy lifting, she seems to be happy with the results. (I know I am
For my second surgery, I dialed back exercise on my own; stayed with swimming (no-interval training, tabata-type training or anything like that) to maintain some base level of fitness, but there were no aortic problems for me pre-op for my 2nd, so I would follow my doc's advice in your case and hold off; you don't want to have your aneurysm dissect or anything horrible like that. The triggers for dissection aren't always predictable as my surgeon once told me.
Good luck. Congrats on the wedding and you'll be back to the jits and exercise sooner than you think.

--Dan

 

[nngbwh]

Just want to say Hi and welcome you aboard Bill.

 

[Luana]

Bill,

I'm about as active as you, well I was. I had a pulmonary valve replacement 9 days ago. Prior to my PVR I trained 6 days a week, including running (3x a week), swimming, weight lifting (CrossFit), trained in martial arts, and competed in triathlons. However, my surgery/defect was related to a complex congenital heart defect and not centered around my aorta. Anyhow, I've been told varying facts about weight lifting and my defect/valve post-surgery. My cardiologist says no more weight lifting b/c as I strain to lift, the pressures inside my heart spike and damage my valves, however my surgeon gave me the all clear for weight lifting once I finish rehab in 6-12weeks. Both cleared me for as much cardio/aerobic work as I desire. I find a lot of cardiologists aren't used to dealing with young adults who are in top physical condition and who are used to training/working out at high intensities, so that may often hinder their outlook/treatment of you.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

One final note, I will say it's very humbling going from running 10mi the day before my PVR surgery to struggling to walk 10minutes or to go from swimming miles to getting tired after taking a shower.

Hi,
I think the huge difference between you and Bill pre-surgery is that you did not have an aneurysm. Weight lifting is not good if you have one. I think after surgery and recovery, Bill will pretty much be able to do all he wants physically, as I'm sure you will, too, after you're finished with recovery.
Wishing you all the best! You're still early in the game. It will get better.

 

[bumtickerj]

Hi,
I think the huge difference between you and Bill pre-surgery is that you did not have an aneurysm. Weight lifting is not good if you have one. I think after surgery and recovery, Bill will pretty much be able to do all he wants physically, as I'm sure you will, too, after you're finished with recovery.
Wishing you all the best! You're still early in the game. It will get better.

Hence, why I stated that I had an entirely different diagnosis; there is nothing worse than playing e-physician. The fact is, heavy weight lifting is not good for anyone because of how it negatively affects the heart, regardless of the presence or absence of cardiac problems.

 

[kpearse]

Did ya get enough to think about yet? lol My 2 cents is this. I had AVR, after which they found two aneurysms, one on my aortic root, the other on my assending aorta. I was told NOT to lift anymore then 25pds. How do they come to that is anyone's guess. I find that hard to deal with as I lifted much more. I had to force myself to "keep it light". High reps, low weight. Good luck!

 

[Bill]

Bill -

The Big Issue is a spike in Blood Pressure which results from weight lifting, especially if you hold your breath at any point.

The Other Big Issue is that there is a low but finite chance than an aneurism can disect or rupture at ANY time.

Some Surgeons use 5.0 cm as their 'trigger point' for recommending surgery.
Other Surgeons use 5.5 cm as their 'trigger point' for recommending surgery.

Our Moderator, Ross, suffered an Aortic Disection when his Aortic Aneurism measured 4.7 cm.
He was airlifted to the Cleveland Clinic and is one of the Lucky Ones to survive an anortic disection.

You would be correct to conclude that I am a believer that "Sooner is Better"
when Risks will only rise with waiting and there are no clear benefits to waiting.

'AL Capshaw'

I'm glad you agree. Sooner is definitely better -- I can't wait until the surgery is over with, so I can focus on recovering and getting back into my daily routine. Thanks for the input!

As hard as it is, especially with your wedding coming up, I agree with the others, you better be safe and not do much before surgery... Especially with the aneurism. But the good news is, after surgery and some recovery time, you'll be basically as active as before, including weights and everything. I'd recommend a cardio rehab program as soon as you can get into one (they had me start one within a week of being home from surgery). That'll give you a good head start. To give you an idea of timing, they had me walking and riding a bike for the first 6-8 wks. Then they let me start doing some light weights (5-20 lbs) starting about wk 8 or so. I was running and starting to lift heavier weights somewhere around 10 wks. I've been building up slowly since then, keeping my heart rate under the point they want me to and increasing the weights slowly as well. The heart rate limits will depend on age (for me, being old, I'm supposed to keep my heart rate below about 160). As far as how much weight, that'll of course depend on what you're used to doing, but to give you an idea, I'm at about 13 wks post-op and am at about 75% of where I was before surgery (i.e. was curling 35 lb dumbells, now doing 25-30 lbs, or was benching about 200 lbs - 3 sets of 8-12 reps, and now doing about 150 lbs - 3 sets of 10-18 reps). I'll continue building up for a while, but plan on stopping a little short of where I was before, doing more reps and slightly lower weights. The one thing you need to be very, very careful about though, is to not lift any more than light weights for the first 3 months. You do NOT want to mess up your sternum before it heals, otherwise you could have permanent problems...

This is awesome input! Thank you! It's nice to have some perspective on what to expect post op. I haven't had an opportunity to discuss this with anyone yet, so this was a refreshing read. A good friend of mine, who happens to own the gym I belong to, is getting a certification for training people post-surgery. I suppose I get to be his first guinea pig.

Hi Bill, I am sure it is difficult for you right now having found out about your aneurysm. But, it is so much better that you did find out. In a way it is a blessing that you did. After the surgery, you will be able to work on getting back in shape. Andy gave you alot of good info. I think you are doing the right thing by having it taken care of now. How exciting that you have a wedding to look forward to! Try to enjoy that aspect of your life right now. Thinking of you!

Thanks, Barb!

Weddings are always stressful for the bride and groom.
Heart surgery is always stressful for the patient and immediate love ones.
When needed, use those anti-anxiety meds judiciously to help you through this. That is what they are for and why they are prescribed. Don't let all this be any harder on you than necessary.

Just popped a pill a few minutes ago I get chest pressure (i.e. anxiety) whenever I read this site. I'm still working on being "not upset" about this and a few other things going on in life right now. Counting the days until the wedding and honeymoon, so I can escape!

Bill,

I'm about as active as you, well I was. I had a pulmonary valve replacement 9 days ago. Prior to my PVR I trained 6 days a week, including running (3x a week), swimming, weight lifting (CrossFit), trained in martial arts, and competed in triathlons. However, my surgery/defect was related to a complex congenital heart defect and not centered around my aorta. Anyhow, I've been told varying facts about weight lifting and my defect/valve post-surgery. My cardiologist says no more weight lifting b/c as I strain to lift, the pressures inside my heart spike and damage my valves, however my surgeon gave me the all clear for weight lifting once I finish rehab in 6-12weeks. Both cleared me for as much cardio/aerobic work as I desire. I find a lot of cardiologists aren't used to dealing with young adults who are in top physical condition and who are used to training/working out at high intensities, so that may often hinder their outlook/treatment of you.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

One final note, I will say it's very humbling going from running 10mi the day before my PVR surgery to struggling to walk 10minutes or to go from swimming miles to getting tired after taking a shower.

I guess that's a tough call . . . do you listen to the cardiologist or the surgeon? At least you're clear for the cardio work. Right now I've limited my workouts to 30 min of rope skipping, some ab work (crunches of various sorts, windshield wipers, etc), and some extremely light lifting -- the kind where you get 20 reps in and could still keep going. I hope I'm still not pushing it too hard.

What were you limited to, pre-surgery?

On your final note: You'll come back stronger than you were before. Having a humbling experience is the best thing that can happen to a person -- the trials of life, and whatnot. I actually look forward to fighting back from recovery. Good luck! I hope everything goes well for you!

Hi Bill, sorry to hear about your issues. I used to lift a lot before my first surgery as well as a couple of martial arts as well and was bummed out when they told me no exercise pre-op. I went back to pretty much all my activities except lifting heavy post-op. Went low weight high rep, since I had an AVR with a biological valve. Still did MA's, swimming, boxing, even took some scuba classes, so pretty much everything was "back to normal" post-op. Actually took even better care of myself post-op than before I was diagnosed. I also had some aortic work done, have a fancy dacron sheath now. Even so, my surgeon has told me even with the mechanical valve I have now, not to do heavy lifting. My girlfriend likes "toned and athletic" more than "big and muscular"; can't say I'm a poster child for the former, but considering I can do everything except heavy lifting, she seems to be happy with the results. (I know I am
For my second surgery, I dialed back exercise on my own; stayed with swimming (no-interval training, tabata-type training or anything like that) to maintain some base level of fitness, but there were no aortic problems for me pre-op for my 2nd, so I would follow my doc's advice in your case and hold off; you don't want to have your aneurysm dissect or anything horrible like that. The triggers for dissection aren't always predictable as my surgeon once told me.
Good luck. Congrats on the wedding and you'll be back to the jits and exercise sooner than you think.

--Dan

Thanks for the input, Dan! The more I read these replies, the more I feel I should be taking it easier than I am. It's good to hear the same message from multiple sources. I'm going to try to get back into everything by February. For now, I'll stick to jumping rope. I'm hoping that's enough to keep me toned for the honeymoon. We're going to Aruba

Just want to say Hi and welcome you aboard Bill.

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Did ya get enough to think about yet? lol My 2 cents is this. I had AVR, after which they found two aneurysms, one on my aortic root, the other on my assending aorta. I was told NOT to lift anymore then 25pds. How do they come to that is anyone's guess. I find that hard to deal with as I lifted much more. I had to force myself to "keep it light". High reps, low weight. Good luck!

Was this pre-op?