Has anyone on this forum ever suffered a heart attack and is still weight training? Last month i had a blocked artery and was fitted with a stent. I feel fine and have started back in the gym. I have had a cardio rehab interview and they told me i should not be lifting at all. I have worked up to 120 KG deadlifts and 100 kg squats without feeling any after effects. The hospital tell me this is too much and i should be only doing cardio. Thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Very sorry to hear about your health issues. As for my thoughts, my first is: Would you really disregard the advice of the healthcare professionals who are familiar with your medical condition based on what some strangers on the internet say? C’mon man.
My second is, stop weightlifting and talk to your cardiologist. Don’t just lift on the down-low. Tell him/her how much you enjoy heavy weightlifting, and how anxious you are to resume it. Ask him/her to review the recent medical literature on heavy weightlifting as it relates to someone with your condition, and to make recommendations based on that review. Once your cardiologist gives you his/her opinion re the risk/benefit profile of heavy weightlifting, you can then decide if it’s worth it.
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I have to agree. Listen to the professionals. 16 years ago I was involved in a serious car accident. As a result I was in a coma for three days. Once I was released from the hospital I was told to not lift, because of pressure on the brain. It was hard, but I listened to my doctors.
Talk to your cardiologist. and find out if there is a time frame where you can get back into it again. There are a million ways to exercise, be competitive and stay healthy.
Thank you for your replies. I will take this on board and speak with my cardiologist.
You probably feel like you have to replace lifting with knitting. Follow your doctor’s advice exactly and you should have a chance of future lifting.
Notice how few people posted here, but they each gave good advice. Be patient.
Hello fellow lifters, I thought it was about time i got back onto this site and update you on my progress. Well i took the doctors advise and did a 6 week cardio rehab at the hospital and then went back into the gym and started the lifting again.
It was the middle of 2018 before i had a meet and it went well and i qualified for the Nationals M6 75 kg Full power and single lifts. In Feb 2019 weighing in at 71 Kgs i set 2 new National squat and dead lift records in my federation, lifting 130 and 172.5 respectively. In August of the same year i took the national full power that was held in Edinburgh ,Scotland , no records here though as i had been away in Italy the previous week and did not perform at my best. Later on in October i went to another qualifier for the 2020 nationals and hit a squat of 135 KGs , breaking the record i set in January. Fast forward to now and we are still in an enforced lock down and no meets have been possible. I also turned 70 this August and am now a M7 lifter. cnnot wait until the gyms open again and i can start afresh.
As far as rehab went , i was messed up for several months after my heart attack, you may remember that i went straight back into the gym against the doctors wishes. During my 6 weeks cardio rehab i took a video of myself deadlifting 160 Kgs and took it to show them in the hospital. They thought it was cool, although the surgeon was not impressed. The main troubles i had was benching, the day after i would have terrible chest pains and in the night when resting it would wake me up. On 2 occasions i went to A & E thinking i was having another heart attack. I had blood test etc , was kept in overnight and given painkillers. They said it was acid reflux.
I have a friend who is a pharmacist and herbologist and we discussed my symptoms at length.
He was thinking that it was my statins and aspirin combination that were causing the trouble so we went about changing these for more friendly natural medication. Having ditched these for Corcumin and polycosonol and added in a drink of Apple cider vineger with lemon juice in the morning i have been fine aaand only take natural medication and have ditched all the docotors tablets. So at the moment i am doing well and hopefully will be back training by the new year . At least my federation is allowing the 2019 qualifications to stand for the 2021 nationals . Not that it will be any good to me as i am now in M7. LOL. Stay safe!
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