Upper Body Excerisers after PM

I am 66 year old female. Had a Medtronic PM May 2015. Doctors says Tread Mill OK but no upper body exercises that would pull leads out including no fishing. He gives no guidance on what I can do. My arms are getting and looking weaker. I have bow-flex at house that I am now only using for my legs. What upper body exercises can I do? and what type of Physical trainer do I seek? I live in Ft Lauderdale.

8 Comments

for a limited time?

by techiej - 2016-05-21 03:05:17

It's still early for you but didn't your Dr give you a timeframe in which you could resume upper body exercise?

A year is long enough

by Gotrhythm - 2016-05-21 04:05:30

Am I reading this right? The PM was implanted in May of last year?

The rule of thumb is that you can ease back into regular exercise after about 6 weeks. If a year has passed you should be well-healed and in very little danger of dislodging the leads.

Double check with your doctor, of course, but after a year there should be no reason for you not to be using your upper body.

Pacemakers don't make us less able to live normal lives, but more able.

Find a new Doctor

by Good Dog - 2016-05-21 07:05:59

Unless there is something unusual about your condition (I think not), you really need to find a new doctor. There are lots of folks here that are doing everything from cross training to playing every kind of sport. I have never heard of a doctor prohibiting upper body exercise.
There shouldn't be any upper body exercises that you can't do! I have had my pacemaker for 30 years and have done everything from 300 push-ups every morning to playing baseball and basketball.

Agreed

by Grateful Heart - 2016-05-21 10:05:42


If it's a year and not a typo....enjoy your bow-flex and fishing.....like Good Dog said, unless there is something unusual about your condition.

Grateful Heart

agreed, again

by Tracey_E - 2016-05-22 01:05:23

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you should be able to do whatever you want after the first 3 months. My doc said stop if it doesn't feel right and don't do anything stupid (exact words, lol, he's known me 20 years),other than that have at it. I do Crossfit so lots of body weight moves like pull ups and push ups, I go heavy with barbells. Five days a week for 5 years no, no issues. I'd either ask again, or find another opinion.

p.s. There are lots of great docs in FLL, but if you feel like hiking up to Palm Beach Gardens, I can send you the name of the practice I go to.

Exercises

by pcuser - 2016-05-22 05:05:52

I am in great health and have no medical issues. The doctor said using my Treadmill is ok, but no exercises with arms over my head or with arms extended or weights. Both Dr Chizner and Dr. Osman from Broward Health said the above.

I hear leadless Pacemakers may be available. Any information on them. Thank you

leadless

by Tracey_E - 2016-05-22 10:05:58

If you have existing traditional leads or if you are dependent you are not a candidate for the leadless. They are pretty new and still in testing, not a whole lot of places can take care of them just yet.

It's not really your health that affects doing weights and other upper body moves, it's lead placement. If it's very close to the surface, if it's right under the collarbone, then you risk crushing the leads with excessive upper body moves. Mine is lower than that so not an issue. I know of one member who has broken leads from exercising. There is a long list of marathoners, crossfitters, rowers, golfers, swimmers who have never had a problem.

Doctors vary on what they say is safe for us. Fact is, there aren't enough of us young and active enough who have been paced long enough for them to really know. Some doctors have no restrictions (mine) while nothing at all upper body is virtually unheard of. That's the two extremes, most fall somewhere in the middle and say some weight is fine, moderate to heavy exercise is ok, contact sports not ok but others are safe, bodyweight moves ok but avoid pull ups.

My cardiologist said do what I want. My SJM rep said nothing I do will hurt the leads. My EP has golfing instructions on his new patient sheets he gives out when he releases from the hospital. That's 3 for 3 telling me it's ok. I dunno what to tell you. I'm obviously not a medical professional but I've been paced since 1994 and never held back, and never had a complication. I can tell you that even if they told me to stop my exercising, I'd probably ignore the advice. I'd rather risk a lead than live life on the sidelines and get out of shape. That's just me, YMMV. Everything in life has risk- poison in the air, chemicals in the water, preservatives in the food, cars wreck, people get run over by buses... I put a lot of importance on staying fit so I don't end up with more heart problems so I don't lose any sleep over my leads.

Doctors give us advice, that's their job. It's up to us what to do with it.

Decisions

by Grateful Heart - 2016-05-23 12:05:06


I have never been told not to exercise or not to do upper body exercises.

I had to stop going to the gym or yoga a few months ago due to 3 bulging discs in my lumbar and spinal stenosis.....newly diagnosed after excruciating pain like I have never felt. I literally could not walk from one end of my house to the other without needing to sit to relieve the pain.

After a spinal lumbar injection a couple of weeks ago it felt better and I was thrilled. I have been going to PT and this week I needed a different test. The test was easy....not painful in any way but the process immediately triggered the nerve to act up again so the pain has returned. I was told if the pain returned then they want to talk about surgery.

I'm gonna need a CRT replacement within the next 2 years and I obviously can't have both at the same time. Murphy's Law likes to visit so I don't want to take the chance.

So I made a decision. I hobbled back into the gym yesterday. I lowered all the weight stacks by one since I haven't been there in months and they felt easy....no strain.

So I'm going back to yoga this week. If my back is gonna go completely out then it needs to do it now. Hopefully it won't but I can't live my life worrying about moving by not moving at all.

We are all different and we have to make our own decisions.

Good luck with yours.

Grateful Heart

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It is just over 10 years since a dual lead device was implanted for complete heart block. It has worked perfectly and I have traveled well near two million miles internationally since then.