Hi, I'm a 57 year old male swimmer with atrial fibrillation taking rhythmol twice a day. (I'm in sinus rhythm most of the time.) I also do a 2,800 yard workout four times a week and aspire to NQT for the 50 and 100 freestyle.
I can't seem to get straight answers from my cardiologist. He says that it is fine to swim, but deeper questions are beyond him.
For example...
Is it OK to really press myself in my workouts?
(I'm out of breath at the end of some of my sets, but who isn't?)
Should I be thinking of long even swims rather than sprint swims?
(I do mile and two mile open water swims, but they're not very exciting for me.)
I'm fighting for breath sometimes during my sets. Is this just a matter of conditioning, or is there a direct link to the a fib?
I have the low side of normal blood pressure. Is there any relationship between blood pressure and whether people are better constituted to be sprinters vs. distance swimmers?
Any information from M.D.s and/or others who have heart conditions would be appreciated.
See you at nationals!
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Former Member
Originally posted by Hink
I've had two stress EKGs. In one I went into a fib after about 12 minutes. In the second I didn't go into a fib at all.
Did either of these tests include some form of cardiac imaging (nuclear or echo)? This improves the sensitivity of the stress test (ie the ability to detect coronary artery disease). This is really the major concern in middle aged athletes. Sudden death during strenuous exercise in your age group, while infrequent, is usually due to CAD.
Originally posted by Hink
I've had two stress EKGs. In one I went into a fib after about 12 minutes. In the second I didn't go into a fib at all.
Did either of these tests include some form of cardiac imaging (nuclear or echo)? This improves the sensitivity of the stress test (ie the ability to detect coronary artery disease). This is really the major concern in middle aged athletes. Sudden death during strenuous exercise in your age group, while infrequent, is usually due to CAD.
