back at the weights..

6 weeks post PM implant.Lifted first time yesterday (chest) and did back today. Baby steps....I am in no hurry or have nothing to prove to anyone BUT I will be back where I was strength wise pre-PM in 5 months (I am guessing). The light weight feel heavy but they feel good. I have done cardio since day after PM implant so I never lost any cardiovascular conditioning. Not doing much with my left arm (had PM pout in left pec) has resulted in some atrophy. It will return soon enough.

I am thinking about getting a t-shirt that says "I have a PaceMaker but I am still stronger than hell"

5 Comments

hard to not workout...

by turboz24 - 2011-07-20 11:07:33

I'm headed back in for another ablation here in 2 weeks and I dread having to stop working out for the week after the ablation.

I went back to working out 2 weeks after my implant, which was a killer. Only lost 20-30% of my strength and 20-22 lbs, felt like crap to. Only took 4 or so months to regain it.......

I do still get creeped out when my ICD slides across my chest, feel it constantly, but working out is important to me, so.....

kind of the same...

by turboz24 - 2011-07-22 02:07:47

I ran cross country in high school, which is one of the reasons when I was 17, I really didn't notice the cardiac infection that caused me to drop to 33% EF. I was treated for the reduced EF and got back to a normal + EF. It wasn't until 17 years later that I developed the Arrhythmia issues.

Never took any drugs of any kind, didn't drink (not even a glass), and didn't smoke.

I didn't actually start weights until I was 30, so been around 9 years. The issue with me and any surgery, etc is I'm normally a pretty thin guy, 155-160 and around 6'1". So, if I don't lift on a regular basis, my current 200-205 lb frame loves to try to go back to my "normal" weight. So, I tend to crash when I stop lifting. I was in the hospital for a week and off weight lifting for 2 weeks, I lost 22 lbs....

well..

by turboz24 - 2011-07-22 09:07:35

Arg.. kg's...

Bench is 143kg (4 sets 5-6 reps)
shoulder press is 27.5kg dumbells 4 sets 8 reps

The meds are slowing me down a good deal at the moment, hope to get better after I get to stop taking them.

I just kept going after my ICD implant, heavier now than I was before the ICD.

I will make periodic posts related to

by biceps72 - 2011-07-22 11:07:47

..getting my strength back post PM implant.

first some facts
1. I am 61 and pretty much a life time lifter.
2. had a classic case,( if there is such a thing) of bradycardia, tired, often light headed, fainted twice in a month before PMwas implanted. I easily past a stress test, echo = normal-- basically i had a very well trained heart due to intense cardio and a good strength conditioning regimen.
3. never took steroids, never smoked, chewed or did recreational drugs. I do drink alcohol very moderately
4. describing how strong I was accurately would be a long paragraph. To give you some idea --- pre PM I was flatbench dumbbell pressing 110 lbs in each hand for 6-10 reps, I was squatting 350 lbs for 3 sets of 10.

not alone

by Williefromphilly - 2011-08-02 02:08:54

Good to hear others getting back on the bench so soon after an implant. Was starting to feel like a jackass for starting after only a couple of weeks...

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In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.