Re Shake Weight and Too Much Upper Body Exercise

I'm bringing this up for clarification and to bring it to the attention of PM newbies.
Most of us have been told to limit upper body exercises such as military presses, especially repetitive and with heavy weight. Never the less, many here do quite a bit of exercise and activity and seem to be fine with it.
Can we have an in depth discussion explaining exactly what exercises people do and what they avoid? It's been awhile and maybe there are some new ideas.
How do you keep your shoulders, chest and back strong without some upper body weight lifting? The Shake Weight motion doesn't appear to be a repetitive up and down move that would impact the leads.
Thoughts and input all?

Harry

7 Comments

upper body exercises

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-31 01:01:20

I think the important thing is that the situation with a well settled pacemaker isn't much different than with any surgical procedure that creates a vulnerable incision. A lot depends on where it is implanted, how we heal, and how well the surgeon secured it.

I'm not a heavy lifter, but am very active. I've never had a problem since my original implant in 2004 and replacement a year ago. I do a lot of heavy 4wd in my Jeep with the shoulder strap eight over the top of mine. I've also fallen once with my large DSLR camera between the pacer and ground. Both me and the camera survived. And by the way I'm thin skinned so don't have a lot of padding.

frank

exercise

by mike thurston - 2011-01-31 02:01:23

I climb, lift, and mountain bike. I mostly avoid military presses and bench presses although I do light sets occasionally. So far so good. I admit to having a lot of anxiety over the things I do sometimes but it is what keeps me sane also. I am PM dependent and have an ICD - guess the thought of inappropriate therapy due to a broken wire (I have the Fidelis) bothers me most. Im am so greedy. I have gotten away with doing a bunch of stuff and I want more. Turning 59 in March and I want to retire so I can dedicate myself to more physical fitness, feeling guilty about being so selfish but I just want this summer to follow my dreams without sitting around all day, day in day out doing the same stuff I have done for 30 years. Sorry, it is late , I am sick and this winter weather is getting me down. I think a lot has to do with how the Doctor runs the wires. Seems to be a wide variety in what patients do with or without incident.

Exercise Variables

by donb - 2011-01-31 11:01:23

Exercise is a must for most cardiac patients. I have had Cardiac Rehab for years. After having PM for 15 years I also developed physical heart blockage which resulted with stent implant. This was followed by Cardiac Rehab with excellant results. The number 1 upper body exercise machine (which everone hates) is the bench cycle machine. Following this is stationary bikes, then treadmill, and finally eliptical machine. Many PM patients participate, within limits as 1st phase is monitored while exercising.
I had a problem with erosion started with my PM site where I had to quite the bench cycle and used my right arm on the air bikes & eliptical. I might also mention even in the advanced stages of exercise we always have an ECG strip & blood pressure done before each session, we are responsible for logging all data, and heaven forbid, we have to do a warmup exercise which is a must. Now the good part, Open gym, 3 times a week at a low fee of $42.00/month. Bonus!! Oxygen in clear view near equipment. Another plus, hospital facility adjoining. Must mention though, you must have your Dr. approve & sign paperwork. donb

Upper Body Exercise and Devices

by shockbox340 - 2011-01-31 11:01:49

As a review for newbies, there are two main factors to consider: short term post-op restrictions and long term considerations.

Short term (anywhere from 1-4 weeks post-op, depending on the opinion of your implanting physician), there are typically some significant restrictions on upper body use (no reaching for items overhead, no heavy lifting, etc.). This is to minimize the chance of pulling your new wires loose within your heart. There are two types of leads, active fixation and passive fixation. The active fixation design uses a TINY metal corkscrew to literally screw into your heart muscle. The small injury caused by that barb entering your tissue will cause a very small amount of scar tissue to form over the first couple of weeks. That scar tissue is much tougher than healthy tissue, and your risk of pulling the barb out decreases significantly once the scar tissue has formed. Passive leads have soft silicone 'fingers' that attempt to grab on to the surrounding tissue. Think a grappling hook, but with soft, flexible arms. (FYI, these restrictions do not apply to battery change-outs, unless you get a new lead at the same time.)

Once you are through the first few weeks, the concern normally shifts to protecting the leads from chronic damage. This can come from excessive pocket manipulation (read: don't play with your device through the skin) or, more commonly, from lead damage where the vein that the wires are typically inserted through passes under your collarbone (or clavicle). The concern is with heavy resistance or repetitive overhead activities, the lead can rub against the bottom of the clavicle, eventually rubbing through the insulation and eventually breaking the wire.

When it comes to exercise, here's the rub (pun intended): You can ask ten different doctors what you can and can't do, and you will get ten different answers. There is no set in stone list of activities to avoid. I have worked with several EP's who told their patients to do whatever they wanted, and if they damaged a lead they would fix it and avoid that activity from then on. Easy for them to say, it isn't their heart, right? The best general rule is to avoid really heavy loads (lower weight, higher repetition within reason) and activities that involve a lot of overhead activities (i.e. swimming, as much as I hate to say it, because it is so good for you otherwise) I'm sure there are plenty of people on this site that lift heavy weights and swim without any problems. I hope for their sake that they stay that way. Some patients anatomy is such that they don't get that rub. Some do. If you are doing damage to the lead, you won't know it until it's too late to save the lead. If you are pacemaker dependant or have an ICD, the risks are greater (loss of pacing or multiple shocks, respectively). Bottom line is that each patient has to decide how much lifestyle modification is worth the increased peace of mind.

Good luck!

Thanks....

by Creaky - 2011-02-01 10:02:38

everyone for the great discussion. I guess we can conclude that we each have to evaluate our own situation and decide how much we are willing to push our individual envelope.

Harry

One question

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-01 12:02:40

How can the lead rub on the clavicle if it is inside the vein? It would have to actually rub through the vein wall to contact the hard bony surface, and if that happened the results would be far worse than a fractured lead (like severe bleeding from the vein).

As far as repetitive movement of the lead how about the heart end which is inside the heart and connected to its wall which is violently flailing around at anywhere from 60 times/minute up. If that doesn't pull it loose I think it is pretty securely fastened.

So the wide variation in recommendations are more an indication of how little docs know about the science of physics.

just an old engineer thinking out loud,

frank

Newbie Concerns

by djohnston - 2013-08-13 10:08:41

Hi, I am a 54 female, with an athletic build, fairly decent shape until an auto accident in 2006, since then my health has been a roller-coaster ride. I am 5'8" and currently weigh 135#, I lost 20# recently due to health issues and having the PM installed on 7.22.2013 (3 weeks ago). I have tried to be a good patient, but I have 5 grandkids on my husbands side ranging from 5 year old twin girls, an 8 year old boy, 11 year old boy and 12 year old grandson. We had an exhausting weekend 8/9 - 8/12, as we drove 6.5 hours up north to visit, then another 3 hour round trip drive to a all day walking/carrying the girls occasionally on a sight-seeing trip on 8/10, then on Sunday 8/11 we took the kids to a water park which was another 3 hour round trip drive, I played in the water with the kids all day long... some accidental over the head, straining due to the 11 and 12 year old boys be naughty on the raft and creating dangerous situations, leading to severe leg cramps which rendered me hanging onto the raft for my life since I could not swim with the cramps. I am on blood thinner due to lower left leg cramp, although I think the clot must have dissolved, so I did not take the blood thinner last night. On the drive back on Monday 9/12 (6.5 hours, with only one stop to stretch my legs, husband doesn't like to pull over, go figure), anyway; I had my legs up on the dash board to encourage blood circulation and avoid blood pooling in lower legs, when I felt a horrible electrical shock in my foot which was touch the air vent or maybe the frame of the door near windshield. Our van is newer with all the bells & whistles of tech plug ins... so lots of juice in the dashboard area. (Q-1) Could the shock have been in part due to my PM? (Q-2) I miss the gym and I feel it in my upper back and shoulders (I am also arthritic, so working out is important for pain reduction), what kind of exercises can I do for my posture? I really need to work my upper body or I am doomed! (Q-3) Is it normal to have discomfort and weird sensations in the area of the PM? My BP and pulse are good, averaging 104/71 with pulse of 62. I'm glad the doctor put the PM on my left side, since I am right handed, but there are some movements that are very uncomfortable if not painful, pulling tight tops on and off can be difficult and painful... (Q-4) When can I expect this kind of odd pain/discomfort to subside? (Q-5) Can stress be a contributing factor to my weird pain and strange sensations in the area of the PM? (Q-6) What is a safe exercise to get rid of what we women call the booby fat, which is right next to my PM on the left side, it almost feels like the doc put it too far to the left, maybe for cosmetic reasons due to my age. Thanks so much!

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