CardiacFit

30/10/2020

How I changed my training with a leaky heart valve

4) Ditched the isometrics

Isometric exercises work your muscles in a static position. So, if you’ve ever watched a strongman competition and seen those guys hold heavy weights in front of their bodies for as long as possible, that’s what they’re up to.

Isometrics come with a shedload of benefits ranging from increased strength and muscle mass to helping recover from injury. They’re basically awesome. However, while they’re really good for a lot of things, they’re also really good at spiking your blood pressure, so aren’t appropriate if you’ve got leaky valves, heart failure or heart disease generally.

Which is unfortunate because if I had to choose one of the most effective exercise of all time, at least for me, I’d probably go for the heavy Farmer’s Walk, or some variation of it. The issue with that is not just that it’s a really heavy weight, but that the entire upper body isn’t moving so is working isometrically under a lot of tension. Isometric exercises spike your blood pressure, partly because you’re more likely to hold your breath during them (see the Valsalva movement from yesterday) but also because you’re significantly increasing your cardiac output without changing the vascular resistance.

As this exercise works the whole body it’s really difficult to replace with just one thing. So, I use a flow combination. This is where a suspension trainer is really useful. You can work the whole body from different angles at an intensity that’s easily moderated by your body position.

29/10/2020

How I’ve changed my training with a leaking heart valve

2 ) Breathing continuously

Covered this in the video yesterday, but it’s so important it’s worth saying twice!

Holding your breathe and squeezing until the veins in your neck look like they’re about to pop isn’t really my thing. And even if it was, it’s definitely off the menu now. This kind of breath holding (also known as the Valsalva manoeuvre), is quite effective at helping you power through the sticking point of a lift, but is also very good at spiking your blood pressure - increasing your heart’s workload with all the issues that brings. 

One way round that is to lift lighter so you can focus much more on continuous breathing so you’re not holding your breath through any part of the movement and forcing the rep. 

To keep my breath moving I inhale as I lower the weight and exhale as I lift it, keeping this as regular and as smooth as possible. That's it. I know things are too heavy or that it’s time to stop if I start overly straining the breath and beginning to hold it. When that happens it’s time to rerack the weight, take a breather and walk around.

Tomorrow… ditching the isometrics!

28/10/2020

How I changed my training with a leaking heart valve

1) Lightened the load

Like a lot.

When you find out you’ve got a leaky heart valve it’s definitely time to check your ego at the gym door and lay off the heavy stuff.

Lifting heavy things can spike blood pressure considerably. Partly because of compression of your muscle contraction, but also because you’re more likely to hold your breath to generate enough force for the lift. Not a great idea!

So, lighter weights and higher reps are the way to go.

Slight disclaimer here… whether or not you should lift at all depends on the severity of your condition. For someone with severe valve disease then this kind of resistance training wouldn’t be appropriate. Speak to your doctor or BACPR exercise instructor if you're not sure.

I’ve also dropped the intensity of other stuff too. So, instead of full-on sprinting the last bit of a run, I might speed up a bit, but I’m not going to bust a gut. Same goes for cycling up hills.

Anyway, here is an exceedingly thrilling video of yours truly talking about all this stuff. In the garage.

Quick side note: As a BACPR trained PT, if you've a heart condition and want advice on how to exercise safely, you can always DM me or see the link in my bio.

27/10/2020

How I changed my training with a leaking heart valve

As an exercise instructor specialising in cardiac rehabilitation, and with a personal interest in heart issues, the summer/autumn of 2020 has been interesting to put it mildly.

At the beginning of September I had my second ablation to treat an arrhythmia (atrial fibrillation), which I’ve had on and off since 2007. Before the procedure my consultant at Papworth suggested I had an echocardiogram to check for any ‘funky plumbing’ - that’s a technical term in case you wondered.

Anyway, turns my cardiac plumbing is fairly funky after all, in the shape of a wonderfully sounding but rather less than wonderfully performing bicuspid aortic valve. Without digging around too much into the medical detail, what that means is that I’ve got two flaps instead of the requisite three on my aortic valve.

I am as it were, a flap short.

While that won’t be a surprise to some that know me, it’s something you’re born with and many people go their whole lives without even realising they have an issue. However, sometimes, and particularly if you start doing physically demanding stuff like marathons, triathlons etc, problems can start to surface. Which is what’s happening now. So, as the valve is leaking and generally not doing things exactly as it should, I’ve made a few changes to how I do things in the gym, on the bike and running around.

So, I’m going to share how I’ve changed things and what I’ve done to ensure my heart valves aren’t going to complain.

First bit tomorrow: lightening the load…

24/10/2020

A couple of young stags on today’s ride

15/07/2020

Steps to a healthier heart #1 move more

We’re designed to move around rather than sit around. And it doesn’t have to be much - 30 minutes of moderate activity a day is all you need. And you don’t even have to do it all at once! In a nutshell (and they’re pretty good for you too - the nuts, not the shells), increase your activity and you:

- decrease your total cholesterol
- increase your good, protective cholesterol
- reduce your risk of diabetes
- reduce your total body fat
- lower your blood pressure

08/07/2020

One minute wonders #12 TRX handstand with knee tuck

As the world currently seems to be a bit topsy-turvy, I thought I'd join in and see how things look when you stand on your head for a bit.

There are numerous benefits to be had from inversion.

The handstand, for example, is a whole body exercise that is excellent for developing strong, stable shoulders and a rock solid core. It also seriously challenges your stabiliser muscles and requires a good degree of coordination and balance. Some also claim that all that blood heading to your scalp helps to combat baldness - so far, alas, I see no evidence of that. What I can say with some confidence is that your t-shirt will fall down, which is why I'm showing off my amazing tan in the thrill-fest video below.

Anton is a personal fitness trainer based in Linton near Cambridge. "As someone who has personal experience of a heart condition (atrial fibrillation) I recognise the challenge of getting and staying fit, particularly with a medical issue. That's why I work with people of all ages and fitness l...

01/07/2020

One minute wonders #11 Kettle bell swings

There are many reasons why sitting around looking at a screen isn’t a great idea. One is simply that being increasingly sedentary means our muscles become inactive and unbalanced.

This is especially true for the glutes as we spend most of the day using them as a cushion. When your glutes are weak and not doing their job this can cause issues with your knees, back, hips, balance and posture.

Kettle bell swings are a great way of addressing this while introducing some explosive strength and power into your routine. They also work on your coordination and timing, which is always a good thing.

Anton is a personal fitness trainer based in Linton near Cambridge. "As someone who has personal experience of a heart condition (atrial fibrillation) I recognise the challenge of getting and staying fit, particularly with a medical issue. That's why I work with people of all ages and fitness l...

23/06/2020

One minute wonders #10 Plyometric push ups

There’s a reason why people have been doing pushups for thousands of years. They are, very simply, one of the best all over exercises you can do.

They work pretty much your entire body, require no equipment, can be done anywhere and give you a serious pump. They’re extremely functional and also really easy to modify so they suit all levels.

If they were a bloke you'd hate them. They're that good.

Plyometric pushups