This will be my first post on T-Nation. My Strength and Conditioning trainer recommended that I reach out to the community to get advice.
My story Im a 30 year old Australian who trains in Muay Thai, Strength and Conditioning, and Rock Climbing. I was in Thailand 3 weeks ago to train for a month at a Thai Boxing Camp. I cut short my trip to come back for surgery to remove a poorly functioning Gall Bladder.
The operation went well but they found issues with my heart. 1 month in hospital (typing away from my hospital bed) the doctors broke the news that after ECHO tests, Heart MRI and ECG’s they diagnosed me with Long Q T type 4. This is a rare genetic heart condition where your heart beats almost at half the pace of a normal person AVg is 70bpm Im 35 bpm and the irregularities of the beat can lead to sudden death at an early age.
Next steps is to install a ICD - Heart Defribulator and a reduction of training load by about 60%. Im grateful that it was found but devastated that I have to give up my passion for Muay Thai and many activities with heavy training.
Im reaching out to the community to find anyone who has had a ICD implanted or trainers who have had an experience with students with ICD implanted. Im trying to move forward and find training / type of training that I can do.
Specifically if you could assist in what you do for the following questions
The main challenge is that the surgeon has advised that I can not lift my left arm above my head due to risking dislodging the device. This means exercises like push ups, pec dec, shoulder press, bench press are highly not recommended. Can anyone validate this from a patient perspective? If you have changed your training what do you do for ?
Deltoids
Triceps
Pec Muscles
Mentally how have people coped with a heart defribulator and what have you done to ‘get back’ onto the horse?
Details on activities / training you do? Ive heard a case from a friend of a friend who climbed Kathmandu Base Camp with an ICD (very encouraging)
The main challenge is that the surgeon has advised that I can not lift my left arm above my head due to risking dislodging the device. This means exercises like push ups, pec dec, shoulder press, bench press are highly not recommended. [/quote]
I have a hard time believing this. Last week I watched a few pacemaker and ICD operations and that device gets surrounded by a very strong fibrin “bag” that’s pretty hard to cut open. It’s locked in place almost as well as a knee cap. Overhead presses may increase the risk of ripping a cable out, but benching should be fine as it barely moves.
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. But I will be in a few years.
Obviously this advice all comes with the disclaimer that this is NOT medical advise, so consult your doctor and cardiologist before you do anything.
The fact that you have an ICD/Pacemaker does not inherently predispose you to being any less fit or giving up certain activities. What the ICD fixes, in your case, is your Ejection Fraction (The amount of blood being pumped out of the heart per pump. Regular hearts pump about 60-70% of their volume out with each pump, so if the ICD can get you to this level consistently you should be good to go from a fitness standpoint)
Not Raising the hand above the head is MOST important in the 4-6 weeks following the procedure. After that the risks drop off, but it is suggested to avoid daily repetitive motions above the head… You will have to ask your doc if something like 5-10 reps for 3-4 sets a few times a week is pushing any kind of limit. I suspect not, as these companies do NOT want these devices able to easily dislodge by doing something like reaching for a box of cereal out of the cupboard…
Does your heart ALWAYS beat at 35bpm? Or is this a rate that it goes into sometimes? I ask because I’m curious if your heart beats slow continually and needs to be paced, or if the ICD is there only in case of emergencies. I would certainly hope they would not have you walking around beating 35bpm… Thats basically a SLAM DUNK for a stat pace maker where I practice.
The main challenge is that the surgeon has advised that I can not lift my left arm above my head due to risking dislodging the device. This means exercises like push ups, pec dec, shoulder press, bench press are highly not recommended. [/quote]
I have a hard time believing this. Last week I watched a few pacemaker and ICD operations and that device gets surrounded by a very strong fibrin “bag” that’s pretty hard to cut open. It’s locked in place almost as well as a knee cap. Overhead presses may increase the risk of ripping a cable out, but benching should be fine as it barely moves.
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. But I will be in a few years.
[/quote]
Thanks for your thoughts Kakno.
Its a tough one because I may be generalising but assume the Cardiologist would be very risk adverse, and so would rule out all possibilities of certain training activities due to risk minimalisation. If I can ask you , would there be any medical journals published which documents any of these details on what you can / cant do? I know alot of the literature published is really for the older crowd as the avg age to get a defribulator installed is 60 or so.
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
I’m an RN so I have a bit of experience here:
Obviously this advice all comes with the disclaimer that this is NOT medical advise, so consult your doctor and cardiologist before you do anything.
The fact that you have an ICD/Pacemaker does not inherently predispose you to being any less fit or giving up certain activities. What the ICD fixes, in your case, is your Ejection Fraction (The amount of blood being pumped out of the heart per pump. Regular hearts pump about 60-70% of their volume out with each pump, so if the ICD can get you to this level consistently you should be good to go from a fitness standpoint)
Not Raising the hand above the head is MOST important in the 4-6 weeks following the procedure. After that the risks drop off, but it is suggested to avoid daily repetitive motions above the head… You will have to ask your doc if something like 5-10 reps for 3-4 sets a few times a week is pushing any kind of limit. I suspect not, as these companies do NOT want these devices able to easily dislodge by doing something like reaching for a box of cereal out of the cupboard…
Does your heart ALWAYS beat at 35bpm? Or is this a rate that it goes into sometimes? I ask because I’m curious if your heart beats slow continually and needs to be paced, or if the ICD is there only in case of emergencies. I would certainly hope they would not have you walking around beating 35bpm… Thats basically a SLAM DUNK for a stat pace maker where I practice.[/quote]
Hi Lonnie,
Thanks for your reply.
Ive put the questions to the Cardiologist.
In regards to the heart rate. After a Heart MRI they tell me that structurally, my heart it strong and healthy. The main issue with with the electrical pulses (irregular beat and slow beat) that is worrying them. They conducted a stress test last week which comprised of me running on a tread mill till i either got tired or if my heart could handle it. I kept on going till them told me to stop. In terms of heart rate it went to about 110, on a speed of about 11. So to answer your question in a long winded way it does raise above 35bpm. This is my resting heart rate. Ive been told bwt 40 and 50 bpm, is where elite athletes sit. Anything below is main cause for concern. Along with the irregular heart beat they say its a no brainer that I get the debrib installed.
[quote]ryno76 wrote:
I would listen to your doctor as that whole dying thing can really put a damper on your training.[/quote]
hahahahahah wise words Ryno, but as you are on T Nation assuming you are serious about your training. Like you, training is such a large part of my life and need to figure out a way that it will still remain there but maybe in a different form.