I’m on waiting list for single or possible double bypass surgery, and I asked one GP about jogging, they said no, just waking and keep on the flat, no hills. Asked a different GP and they yes, carry on, but stop if get chest pains or palpitations. So not sure what to do, could do with losing some poundage from around the old body! Can’t do it with just dieting.
What would or did you do?
Thanks in advance for your response if any.
love ya.
Ask your surgeon as GP's aren't specialised enough. I cycled waiting for my bypass but never took my heart rate above 120.
Nice one Dave,
I won’t be seeing him for a while as there’s approximately a 10 month waiting time and he didn’t say if he’ll be seeing me before that. I like the idea of keeping heart rate low though, do you know if there is a safe maximum you could go to? Obviously I wouldn’t go full on max. Is 120 the safe maximum?
I think depending on age but if you keep it below 120 bpm you will not do it damage. I will repeat what many people on hear say your body tells if you are doing too much.People do take heart attacks without exertion. I suffered unstable angina, so my symptoms didn't change when out cycling. The BP meds did keep my max heart rate to around 130.
I do agree that walking is very beneficial and maybe running causes too much strain on the heart.
I uses 3 heart rate monitors just to be on the safe side.
My chest pains come on after exercise or at rest it even wakes me up at night sometimes.
I’ll give it try, see how I feel.
Thanks pal.
Email him , they will have a secretary . Look up the cardiac team details for your hospital online . 👍🏻
The BHF help line advised that safe maximum if you have heart disease is 85% of your absolute peak heart rate for your age. Calculate this by subtracting your age from 220 and and then take 85% of this figure. I'm 64 and my max recommended is 132. (Which is quite tricky if you're swimming and going fast up a hill).
I recommend the helpline. The nursing specialists are very helpful and friendly. I've rung a couple of times and found their advice to be really useful.
Here in the US they advise 70% which for my age is around 101. This morning I used the bike w/o setting a program so it didn’t record my pulse and I felt fine. Thanks for your help.
I’ve been meaning to ask this question about exercise and heart rate. I recently began using a new stationary bike at the gym and it showed my pulse going up to 172, way over 70% of my THR so I stopped even though I didn’t feel any different. Should I trust the bike readings or should I take my own pulse? Thanks for your help.
Hi, I was advised not to run anymore and decided to take that advice after finding out I would be having a CABG (still waiting) and realising the seriousness - I didn't think the risk was worth taking. Prior to this, I had found that I could run in the 110-115 bpm range before too bad discomfort. I'm not running anymore. Instead, regular walks have been keeping me fit.
Cheers for that buddy.
I think you will find that the restricted amount of exercise you will be limited to will contribute very little to weight loss. The only sure way to lose weight is to have a proper balanced "heart healthy" diet in moderation, similar now to what you will need to do post procedure. Exercise will form an important part of the required lifestyle then but it should not be seen as a means of losing weight, it is very easy use it as an excuse for just eating more.
thanks
Next week I will have mytral valve replacement OHS. The fitter and trimmer you are the faster you will recover. We are all so different. I have never enjoyed jogging, so I'm swimming 1km a day, regular walking and biking. I never push my body, even being anxious you are doing too much isn't good for your bp.You have ten good months to have regular sensible exercise and control your diet, which will also reduce cholesterol, and make you feel in control. Just do what you and your body can. Your positivity is one of the best things for your heart. 👍🏽
Yeah the surgeon guy said that the ‘slimmer gentleman will recover quicker’ after op. 😂 I think that was his way of saying to me, lose some weight chubby! 😂
I’ll be taking it real slow with the exercise. Cheers dude.
Leroy you need to o know what your working heart rate is so that you don’t over do it then when you know what parameters to work between you will gain most benefit. Maximum heart rate changes with age. Do you have a chest HR monitor.? Slight incline is good one you can walk for 3 minutes then recover as you walk back down it doing that 4 or 5 times is a good start as long as you don’t exceed your max HR but I would steer clear of jogging. Look at your intake of food also too much of the poor food can not be good for you as that can aid weight gain.
No I don’t have a chest strap monitor but looking at getting one. I’m down to just two meals a day and seem to be stuck at the weight I’m at. I walk dog twice a day but she walks very slow so heart rate doesn’t move much. Maybe I’ll walk alone and quicker, but it’s finding the time.
Thanks
OK couple of things. Firstly when you go to Rehab after the OP one of the things they will probably tell you is that you need to be a bit selfish, as in putting yourself first over anything else, to make sure you do all the things you need to, this is a serious business! "Can't find the time" is not much use if you end up having a heart attack, you simply have to. Secondly, do you have any Angina symptoms? There are loads of people who undertake regular exercise who can't have any invasive procedures and have to live with Angina, for example using their GTN spray before or even during exercise, it is merely (not trying to use the word lightly!) a warning that your heart is not getting enough oxygen etc to do what it needs to at the time. I think one of the GP's was exactly right, do as much as you can as long as you feel OK, you re not going to suddenly "blow up" as it were. You could work out a maximum HR to work to but this is very subjective and not particularly easy to do. I had a near 100% blockage in my LAD and was walking up very steep fells in the Lake district just 3 weeks before anything was discovered, it's amazing just how your heart can work even with a very restricted supply. The more you can do the better it will make you feel.
My chest pain was originally coming on after I’d been for my runs back in September last year, then got results of test, ct angiogram, ct wire pressure, 80% blockage and positive on the pressure thing and was told to stop. So I did. Now I get chest pains at random times, it has even woke me up at night a couple of times. I use gtn spray now and then, when it’s really bad. I don’t get chest pain when I ramp it up a bit, like I’ve walked up a decent hill at a decent pace and nothing, but when got back down and sat in car for a while that’s when it came. Even the sessions of carnal knowledge with wife is no issue, it’s after that pain kick in.
I just want to shift this weight man! But I’m worried that the blockage will break off and cause the one thing I don’t want, if I start running again. So yeah, I need to work out what a comfortable heart rate would be for me to be able to keep up to, to go to a reasonable time and distance for it to have positive effect on weight loss. But yeah you’re right about the time thing, I used to have to time to run, but took on other things, maybe I’ll have to learn to say no, so that I have that time back.
Thanks stents, much appreciated.
Reduce sugar and fat in pastries cakes crisps chocolate bars ice cream etc the waist line disappears. I was army 23 years police 4 years I was a fitness coach thought I was untouchable and at 67 with no prior illness I thought I had pluracy I heard go back to bed and rest 3 days later I went to the surgery to have my lungs check to find I had had a massive HA . Since then I have done so much research that I have had to rethink all the things the system had told me was the truth but of course it was all half truths. As some one above said you have to be selfish and disciplined otherwise nothing works because stress negates all the good work. To say you have to find time is at the wrong end of the thought process. My whole body shape has changed by taking all those things out of my eating. I also have my last meal between 6-8 in the evening then apart from drinks without milk and sugar first meal most days around 2-3 in the afternoon. I do cardio exercise on my static bike( my normal bike with a adapter at the back so I can use it indoors) and a little bit of resistance Exercises in pull-ups (5) press-ups 20 squats 15-20 and out for walks. It takes a rethink on life my friend.
All true and good, I'd say breakfast is an essential personally, porridge, fruit/yoghurt/granola/toast if it's your thing. Personally we only have good quality sourdough from a (semi) local baker, no additives or anything, commercially produced bread is shite mostly, just a processed food basically. Don't need spread on the toast, also I only drink black tea coffee, once you cut out the milk you will wonder why you ever had it in the first place you can really taste the tea/coffee if it's good stuff.
OK, well regarding a bit of the blockage (plaque) breaking off - this is something that has worried me hugely over the past years. As far as I have learned over years of trying to get genned up and from talking to medical people, bits of plaque fragmenting and also rupturing account for something like 73% of heart attacks, mostly it causes a blood clot and usually total following blockage (make sure you carry a couple of 300mg aspirins with you just in case). The plaques tend to be either stable or unstable, one guy on here once described them as like acne, some types are just hard lumps and others are more likely to burst or erupt. It's not a great thought and I am not sure how you can tell what type you might have, other than maybe a CT scan (possibly) but don't forget there will be thousands, millions of people walking about with heart disease, doing all sorts of strenuous exercise, they just don't know they have CHD, yet. I had a near total blockage in my LAD in two places which were stented, and my RCA was 50% blocked but left alone, the surgeon said I had "general" narrowing in most of my coronary arteries, whatever that means! However for the last 5 years I have engaged in long and short distance running including sprinting and hard shorter distance work, and at times have been totally spent after a hard finish. I probably do what some would call stupid amounts of effort for someone with CHD, but so far I have been absolutely fine, in fact it's sometimes hard to believe I was ever rushed into hospital 6 years ago. What I am saying is that personally I don't believe that physical effort is likely to cause plaque to break up or rupture. All that is happening is that your heart is beating faster, even when resting it is still contracting and expanding quite violently, so if you are going to get a plaque rupture or fragment, it's probably going to happen anyway?
However from the way you have now described your symptoms, you have unstable Angina, which for me would possibly put a different slant on things, as I believe a lot of events happen after the actual physical effort, not during, as you have described, in which case I think I would be limiting myself to maybe longer steady walks monitoring yourself during and after, and not forgetting the 2 aspirins and you GTN spray. I firmly believe doing something like this will benefit you rather than just sitting on the sofa worrying. Like you say get a chest strap HR and just work up to and out what you can tolerate, you'll be ok once the plumber's been.
wow, thanks buddy, lots of info for me to digest there mate.
When I was waiting for my byoass surgery I was told to go home and do nothing. Not even a bit if gardening. A stroll at the most. Please be careful.
Will do, thank you.
Can you not just walk? Jogging would put strain on your heart surely,cut carbs right down and slowly decrease portion size,I've lost 1 1/2 stone in last 8 months, try to keep heart rate normal,good luck
Yeah I walk the dog twice a day but she is a very slow walker, I don’t eat that many carbs and I’m down to two meals a day. I just flattened out at weight that won’t shift. Going to try find time to walk alone and quicker. Maybe I’ll see how I feel on one meal a day, that’ll shift a few extra pounds and save a few quid too.
Nice one 👍🏾
Please don't have one meal only per day. It can be counter productive. You need about 1600 calories and to walk as much as possible. Weight loss and gain is MOSTLY a matter of simple mathematics. Calorie input versus output, with slight variants for different people. Before I get replies quoting various diet gurus I stress, this is the science on which I base my statement. Less in than putting out= weight loss and vice versa!
I eat two meals a day now, and to be honest when it comes to second meal I’m not that hungry. But yeah I’ll have a proper think about it.
Thanks Mitchum,
Love ya.
Exactly. Unfortunately it's a simple principle that seems to get muddled up in all sorts of excuses these days.
Don't take this the wrong way but how do you mean by strain on your heart? As long as it is getting the minimum supply of oxygen and nutrients working it will only make it stronger, if it's not then that's when Angina will kick in. I was told the only reason I had come through unscathed was because my heart was in good shape due to my exercise.
My husband is also waiting for a CABG and sees a cardiac nurse. He asked about tennis and table tennis and was told very firmly only walking and to sit at any indication of heart stress, recover and then walk on again. We have worked out the walks with benches! The cardiac nurse looked aghast at the suggestion. It takes a while for the seriousness and implications of the heart's current weakness and vulnerability to sink in. I keep thinking the surgeon would not be recommending very expensive open heart surgery if there was not the need and the expectation of serious improvement. Like many are saying, if you can, go for the healthy food options and portion size and cut out /down alcohol (empty calories with no nutritional value) should you drink. If you don't already, cook your own meals from scratch, they will be much more nutritious and you know exactly what you put in them - see the British Heart Foundation recipe section. Put portions in the deep freeze ready for when you come out of hospital and when are so so tired in those first weeks and won't want to cook.
Yeah cardiac nurse said to me stop all exercise after she saw results of ct angiogram. So yeah maybe the answer is longer quicker walks and one meal a day. I do eat healthy meals and definitely don’t drink. Someone told me drinking kills brain cells and I haven’t many of them left, so I stay well clear of alcohol. 😂
Thanks cotonh,
Love ya.
I was waiting for a triple. I carried on cycling for months but not as vigorously. Any discomfort whatsoever, stop and rest.
Oh this is confusing, one says stop and one says they carried on but not as hard. Really not sure now. Thanks for input though chooch.
A big consideration is fitness. The fitter you are the better you will recover from what is a brutal operation. Stay as fit as you can.
Not being funny but if you asked 10 cardiac nurses that question you would probably get two or three different answers. During rehab some of them went crazy at me for exceeding the max HR they had set me, others were for more laid back, when I questioned why, they couldn't really answer other than it was setting a bad example for the others in the session ??
I wasn’t fit enough to exercise pre-op and in any case I wasn’t diagnosed until I was in hospital post heart attack!
I was 4 weeks from diagnosis to AVR and CABG. I also had 2xPCI as a result of the heart attack but prior to diagnosis of the valve issue. The CABG was purely precautionary after the stents.
As part of my rehab physio I was supposed to keep to a maximum heart rate of 109, but that is age related. Very roughly it is (220-age)*0.73. Now, 10 months post op, I’m exercising at normal maxima for my age after consulting with my rehab team.
I’ve also lost 10kg most of which was fluid retention due to my cardiac condition, my BMI is below 25 as a result.
thanks matey. 😀
Hi Leroy, I have similar condition to you. I have been told not to walk up hills as I probably have angina. I am seeing a Cardiologist this week, so hope to have more clarity. Rabbit55.
Hey rabbit, to be honest when I was told, it proper knocked me for a big 6. It took a couple of weeks for it to sink in. So, yeah, good luck mate, hope your appointment is easier to handle than mine was.
love ya.
I was told to continue my weekly 5k parkrun as staying fit would be helpful before the operation. And because it helped in identifying my issue (times dropped off a cliff, lack of oxygenated blood getting to the legs, breathlessness after). I was specifically told that my body expects exercise and to stop suddenly would be bad.I dropped any additional jogs and cut all thoughts of longer distances out of my mind. I was told to do it slower, not push, stick to flatter courses and stop if breathlessness or palpitations occur. I slowed from around 32 mins (really pushing to get back to a pre-Covid 25, couldn't understand why so pushed & pushed my heart, blaming Long Covid, not thinking it would be the Aortic valve) down to 40 mins after diagnosis, so nice & steady.
Weirdly, I did get faster again. Medication and mainly confidence in understanding my heart and it's new temporary limits meant I got it to 34 mins the week before the op. No issues.
After the op? Walked 1.25km the day after release (so a week after the op). Built it up daily to walking 5k in 3 weeks. Then increased by 1k a week. Slowly jogged my first post-op parkrun two months after, 33 mins. Back up to 10k and Half Marathon twelve months later.
Carry on jogging. Accept it won't be normal for quite some time. Listen to your body, take it a little easier. You will get it back to near your best in time.
Nice one fella! 😀
Have you got a GTN spray? I got very fit before my bypass by taking a spray and then exercising, running, jogging up steps and walking. I didn't have a smart watch so had no idea what my heart rate was, I just stopped if it hurt too much 😂. They say you should be as fit as possible before an operation, so I would contact your surgeon's secretary and ask for her to get his advice. S/he's probably had many a similar phone call 👍
👋 Hi Leroy, your dilemma sounds pretty much like the one I faced after my Angiogram February 2022. Prior to then I'd been suffering from shortness of breath after a stiff walk and tingling in my left-hand since August 2021. After my Angiogram the cardiologist sat on my bed 🛌 and I asked him " can I do my morning exercises? No, can I play tennis? No can I ride my bike? 👎 "
Then began the long wait for surgery. After two miserable weeks I though sod this and I started playing tennis 🎾, walking, riding my electric-bike etc. I took the decision at that if I kept fit I'd have much better chance of survival following surgery and making a rapid recovery.
However, I'd not had a heart attack and I had no underlying health problems. I just had a severe stenosis at top of my LAD (leaving just a tiny gap for the blood to flow through) that could not be stented.
So, the only danger I faced would be a blood clot which would be fatal.
So, whether to take your GPS advise all comes down to your age circumstances personalty etc. I love my food slap as much butter on my toast as humanly possible, drink 🍸 every day, would go mental if I had to give up my tennis 🎾 and table tennis 🏓.
I don't take any medication post op other than a daily Aspirin-Amoprozal.
I wouldn't advise anyone to follow my example but for me the quality of life I achieve sans statins etc outweighs any long term health gains.
Hope everything goes well for you and please don't follow my example I was just letting you know how I handled the situation you now find yourself in.
Cheers, Denis
when I was told I had angina they gave me a spray and said carry on exercising,so I did.Played badminton cycled circuit training and weights.Four weeks later blue lighted to hospital for a Cabg x5 .So be careful and good luck
😮 not the reply I wanted to read, but I guess it’s a truth bomb of a possibility that could happen.
Thanks mate.
I would ask to be referred to the rehabilitation team who will assess you and give you guidance. I did this after a heart attack in 2018 and was advised to keep my heart rate below 137 but it’s all dependent on BMI , age and of course your heart condition.
In addition try contacting the BHF and speak to a cardiology nurse who I have found to be excellent.
Hi There is now a lot of research that HIIT training (high intensity interval training|) is far better for weight loss, as well as loss of the more dangerous visceral fat so better for the heart. However as you are waiting for surgery and your heart & blood flow is currently compromised I would be cautious!
patient.info/news-and-featu...
And this interview is REALLY interesting and eye opening, highly recommended watching though long so I watch in half hour stints....youtube.com/watch?v=nupPRnv...
Whilst waiting for OHS to replace my Aortic Valve I was told to stay active, but no running, no stairs, no hills, no fast walking. So basically just gentle strolls. Enough to help my mental health but nothing to put my heart under any strain.Calory deficit is the main way to lose weight, jogging would have a miniscule impact on it, I know, I tried years before.
Do you need to lose weight? If so consider Slimming World, it really does work
Joanne
yeah definitely need to lose some weight, I’m looking into that intermittent fasting lark. I’m on two meals a day now, so I reckon cutting another one out won’t hurt eh.
Don't do intermittent fasting! Eat less but regularly. Cutting one meal out is 50% of your diet. Too much! Keep walking as often as possible. You don't need to jog if you walk a decent pace.
It works for me. Usually don't eat anything from 6pm until 11am the next day.
Because you eat less.
From my Ambulance Service training I knew a tingling tip of tongue on exertion needed checking. Tests revealed a furred up aortic heart valve. A replacement tissue valve in now. At 78 jogging is out.
I certainly wouldn’t go jogging unless okayed by your surgeon. Ali just read a very I interesting book by a scientist at Cambridge university called calories don’t count and also backs up what my son in law (a surgeon has said) no amount of exercise unless you train like Mo Farah will make you lose weight, it does however help keep your weight stable.
Cardiologist being dismissive
What else causes heaviness on chest?
Amlodipine in morning and Ramipril at night?
Autoimmune & Covid Vaccine 
High blood pressure further tests?
