Sport

You should hear from some members

by Theknotguy - 2018-04-25 23:02:54

You should hear from some members.  Noteably TraceyE.  She does crossfit training and is on her 5th pacemaker.  We have members doing all sorts of athletic sports.  Even had one who was doing sky diving - was using a slow open parachute.  (Although why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane I'll never know.)

The main thing is to make sure your pacemaker implant site is fully healed.  That may take up to a year if you're doing very strenuous exercise.   I think it was nine months before all the underlying tissue was healed on my implant site.  

I was working in a wood shop.  Was lifting heavy wood and my implant site was giving me fits.  I'd feel OK while doing the work but for the next four days I'd really hurt, especially in the pacemaker pocket.  Had some severe itching as well as "ant bites" while the nerves healed.  Finally everything healed enough that I could do whatever I wanted.  But it did take a while.  

Main point being, yes, you can do strenuous exercise.  

Hope everything else goes well for you.  
 

do what you want

by Tracey_E - 2018-04-26 11:02:29

Unless you're going super heavy and competing, you should be able to do whatever you want at the gym once you heal. The reps involved in professional level training could be a problem but not regular workouts, even if they are heavy.

Talk to your doctor before about placement. Some doctors put it very close to the collarbone, just under the skin. You'll want it lower and deeper than that so it's protected and out of your way. 

Know that some doctors are more conservative than others. There aren't a whole lot of younger, athletic, paced patients so there aren't any studies or even guidelines. Most of them don't have more than one or two patients like us. Some more extreme doctors advise against lifting overhead, using a pull up bar, doing push ups for fear of damaging the leads. Some say do what you want, the leads are thin and flexible and intended to move with us. Most are somewhere in the middle.

My doctor has always encouraged me to be active, to not hold back because of the pacer. Every once in a while we get a member who's had a lead broken but that is very much the exception not the rule. I've never had a problem. I wouldn't call what I do bodybuilding, more like playing with barbells. I also like to kayak, do ropes courses, did my first Spartan this year, am currently training for my next half marathon. I'm super slow and I don't keep up with the young'ins in class, but I do ok for over 50 and carrying extra weight.  The best thing we can do for ourselves is be active enough to keep our heart muscle strong and eat well to keep our arteries clear. The pacer is just a tool to help us stay active. It shouldn't slow you down. 

Working out

by Jimmy Dinfla - 2018-04-28 23:13:38

Testifying on behalf of the preceding replies, after recovering I re-started my PT program and am doing fine.