CROSSFIT

I STARTED CROSSFIT A FEW MONTHS PRIOR TO HAVING TO GET A DUAL CHAMBER PM LAST WEEK FOR BRADYCARDIA SYMPTOMS. IMPLANT IS IN UPPER PEC AREA ABOVE MUSCLE. MY DOCTOR IS NOT VERY FAMILIAR WITH CROSSFIT OR BARBELL WEIGHTLIFTING TECHNIQUES. HAS ANYONE ATTEMPTED CROSSFIT ROUTINES AFTER GETTING A PM AND/OR BEEN RESTRICTED BY PM DURING ANY BARBELL EXERCISES? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY FEEDBACK.

3 Comments

Front Rack

by PeteFindlay - 2014-11-13 07:11:49

My PM is sub-pectoral, so doesn't get in the way at all. I'm still wary of the front rack with a barbell, more particularly when I'm catching it from overhead - thrusters or shoulder to overhead for reps. If you catch in a good rack - no problem. If the bar comes down off the shoulders a bit onto upper chest, it could be a problem.

It'll certainly help you focus on good form, but it may be worth looking at some form of padding, or scaling to dumbells, if it looks like being an issue, depending on exactly where its positioned and your movements.

Don't be in too much of a hurry to get back on the big weights (I left it a couple of months before starting to do any significant upper body work-outs), focus on good form and range of motion. Work with your coaches to find alternatives if you find any movements that risk impact on the PM site.

Apart from watching out for risk of direct impact, personally I've found no restrictions.

Pete

However,

by Creaky - 2014-11-13 10:11:14

Lead failure IS a potential problem. I've had 2 leads fail, which the docs blamed on repetitive motions of weight training. So have had 2 additional surgeries replacing the broken leads. Now I am very careful about limiting reps and weight used with left arm. Sucks but I don't want to go through more surgeries.

weights

by Tracey_E - 2014-11-14 02:11:27

Mine is also buried under muscle. You don't want the barbell to sit on your device or leads when you hold it in front rack, but mine is much lower than that so I don't worry about it. I don't have any restrictions and have been doing CF for 3.5 years now with no problems. The only thing I don't do is ring rows, not because I can't or was told not to, but because they aggravate the scar tissue and make me achy the next day.

Ease back into it. If something doesn't feel good, find something else to do instead. A good coach will be able to help you modify if needed. I do modify, but not because of the pm. The meds I'm on drop my bp so I can't do a lot of up/down things like burpees.

As for direct impact, it wasn't at the gym but my dogs tripped me one day. I was headed face first into the steel door frame so I put my hand out, landed fist to pm. I had a fist shaped bruise for a couple of weeks, but the pm was fine. They are titanium, we will bruise long before they'll be damaged.

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