Crossfit

Hi...This is my first post. I am 39 years old and was informed last week that I have total heart block and need a PM fitted. I was very surprised when informed as I feel as if I have never been fitter in my life.I Cross-fit daily and partake in numerous other sports.Does anyone else partake in Cross-fit and if so has there been any limitations in your training and level of intensity post OP??

Any advice would be welcome!!

Liam

2 Comments

Liam...............

by Tattoo Man - 2013-05-21 01:05:10


.......................I will simply put my name to the advice given above. I am 63 on Thursday..this evening I will be out with the Running Club.

Best wishes to a resident of one of the Worlds finest cities......fantastic memories of Temple Bar !!

Tattoo Man

5 days a week

by Tracey_E - 2013-05-21 12:05:32

I went this morning! I have heart block also, mine is congenital. I am 46, have been paced since 1994 and am on my 4th device, so I have nothing to compare it to. I don't always have the stamina everyone else does, but I'm also on a beta blocker. I blame that for holding me back, my pacemaker doesn't cause problems at all. I do, however, hold my own with all the kids! I can do rx on about half the stuff now and I may not have the fastest score but I don't have any trouble finishing and am in the best shape of my life.

I don't do inverted rows on the rings. My pm is buried rather than just under the clavicle like most are, and doing them aggravates the scar tissue. I do push ups or presses instead. We were doing toes to bar one day from the rings instead of the bar, that stirred things up, too. (But I still did them, I like the rings a lot better than the bar!)

If we have to have a heart condition, we have the one with the easiest fix. Our sinus node (nature's pacemaker) works normally, we just have a broken circuit and the signal doesn't make it to the ventricles. The pm watches for the atria to beat then makes sure the ventricles keep up. Easy fix.

If you are able to do Crossfit while in block, then odds are good your stamina will only improve once your heart is beating in sync. Do you have symptoms? If not, you might want to get a second opinion and consider waiting, as long as your heart rate isn't too low. If it's low, then it's hurting your body every time you exercise and a pm is a good choice sooner rather than later.

As for other sports, anything that risks a hard direct hit to the pm such as competitive karate or tackle football, is not a good idea. It won't damage the pm, it's titanium, but our skin isn't quite so tough so it's going to hurt. They make shirts with protective pads that go over the device if you want to still play.

Most drs want us to take it easy for 6 weeks in order for the leads to fully heal, no heavy weights or raising the arm higher than shoulder level. With your dr's permission, you can probably start running and doing squats and other leg work sooner. I would probably wait longer, as long as 3 months, before doing the full wods, hold off anything heavy overhead or hanging from the bar.

Talk to your dr about placement, make sure the surgeon knows you are very active. The most common place to put it is just under the skin, just under the collar bone. We can't have a bar sitting right on the device/leads so show them where the bar sits when you clean it. Ask to have it a little lower and a little deeper. Healing takes a bit longer but isn't bad at all, and it's well worth it to have it out of the way once you heal.

You may find there are drs who give you a list of things we should never do. Ask 10 drs, get 10 different lists of do's and don't's. I know of one person (through here) who damaged leads from lifting weights but I know of many many more, myself included, who have never had a problem. My dr said don't worry about it, do what I want to do. And so I do. I don't feel I'm taking a risk but even if he told me I am, I'll probably keep right on doing what I'm doing. I don't want to live life on the sidelines and act like an invalid, and I feel having a healthy strong heart is crucial.

Last, electrical problems are not our fault! Nothing we did wrong caused it, nothing we could have done differently would have prevented it. It's unrelated to fitness level or diet. Sometimes they are caused by medication or infection but more often than not they just happen at random and we never know why.

If you have questions, please ask away! Most of us find we heal and feel better, then get on with our lives and forget about it. As you read the other posts here, keep in mind that many come here with problems so it's out of proportion. For every one here with a problem looking for answers, there are hundreds, probably thousands, out there feeling great and getting back to life.

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