Exercise and Golf

Early April was my first visit to the cardio EP doc since impantation 12/2022. They advised everything was good. We discussed exercises that I do and they said to refrain from push ups and should presses that could potentially damage the leads. That said the doc and PA said I can golf. I've played 3 rounds thus far and the motion seems similar to the push up and should press movements. Wondering if anyone has any advice for golf and exercising along withreferences for safe exercises with a pacemaker?


2 Comments

Exercise

by AgentX86 - 2023-05-01 13:36:43

Follow your EP's advice.  He knows you better than anyone here.

That said, the rules I was given was that any exercise was OK except contact sports (unlikely since I was 65) and free-weight presses. The problem wasn't the press itself, rather the possibility of a lead getting crushed between the bar and clavicle. Machines are fine because there is no chance of that.

Golf is typically restricted for 6 weeks for chip-n-put and 4-6 months for a full swing. It's probably a giid idea to get into is slowly, for many reasons.

exercise

by Tracey_E - 2023-05-01 14:54:24

The motion of a golf swing is similar, but with a push up you've got your full body weight behind it so a lot more force. My doc is ok with both and I've done push ups for 10+ years with no damage to my leads.

I would ask the question, is it you and your placement/build specifically, or do they give that advice to all patients? Doctors don't agree on what's safe and there aren't enough of us active and paced long term for there to be any studies, however I've found that doctors with a lot of active patients tend to be more liberal in their advice than doctors with mostly sedentary patients. It's not that it's unsafe, it's that they just don't know so they err on the side of caution. That said, sometimes there is a reason for limits, such as your device is in a position where the leads could be crushed. 

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