Heart Condition and Swimming

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:03:20 GMT

I've got ACE (www.acefitness.org/.../default.aspx) advanced trainers to talk too everyday and they have me doing my swimming/cardio in various zones of exertion. I'm in the water 5-6 days a week and have been using RPE to determine how I workout on certain days. I'm picking up a heart rate monitor to try for a few months to see if I can become more efficient with my training. My current goal is to get my ejection fraction number up.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

White Lightning — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:55:18 GMT

I have a friend, who, 7 years ago, developed paroxysmal a-fib, PVC's, and MVP at age 38. + family history. This was all SEMI-well controlled on diltiazem and metoprolol with half assed wt loss (240 to 230)--but A-fib was still a problem. Since gradually starting masters swimming last fall, with MD approval and negative stress testing (100% max hr and no s-t changes), echo, and ekg, his wt has dropped to 190. First he came off the dilt, now off the metoprolol. No afib events in 4 months, and only .2 sec off of 4 USMS cuts. He says taht shoulders willing, he's never going back.:applaud:

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

ColoJoel — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:31:52 GMT

My PA (who lives next door!) told me during my last physical (I told her that I've taken up masters swimming) that "if you can swim the amount you do & don't have chest pains or other problems, then that is like a stress test". I hope she's correct. When I was very small, I was discovered to have a VSD (ventrical septal defect, I believe -- hole between the chambers). I was never restricted from any activity while growing up, but they watched it very closely & saw a cardiologist periodically. I recall the doc saying once: "if it closes up, fine; if it doesn't, fine". Honestly I don't know if it's still there or not, but I do get a cardiogram each physical. Again, last physical, Bonnye looked at it, said "looks awesome" and proceeded to tell me the above statement. I too would be interested in what others have to say about this. :)

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:19:04 GMT

Thought I would resurrect this thread. Anyone else with cardiac issues working out, training, and/or competing, reading this? I'd be interested in discussing further. I had an MI almost two years ago and now back to swimming for my cardio part of my exercise 5 days a week. I swam competitively back n the Stone Age in high school. I'm 50.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Rick — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:48:14 GMT

Thanks, Betsy. I hope that your second ablation continues to be successful! And you are exactly right, getting off the meds allows you to get your heart rate back up; and feel and swim much better! (I keep trying to convince my brother who has had A-Fib since 1978 and is on lots of meds to get the ablation - but no luck!) Good health...... Rick

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Rick — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 11:28:07 GMT

I am 63, developed A-Fib four years ago (it does run in my family), read everything I possibly could about it (including tons of stuff on teachingg hospital sites), and then went to our University Hospital (Iowa) and talked it over with the Director of the Electrophysiology Lab (including my lifestyle concerns - e.g., swimming!). We determined that the ablation procedure would make the most sense, and I had it done a few weeks later (six hour procedure, you are half awake, pretty painless, and actually kind of interesting to semi-observe). They did keep me over night and I was walking all around the hospital during the evening. I have had no recurrences, do not expect any at this point, and I was biking within four days of the procedure and back in the water in a week (the main thing is the time needed for the incisions to heal). I would do this again in a second!!

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Betsy — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 06:33:14 GMT

Good news, Rick. I had to have a second ablation and am glad that I did. No problems for almost a year. The best part is being off all heart medications. I swim much better and have more energy to enjoy everything. One of the medications surpressed the heart rate, which also seemed to surpress racing mode. I'm glad to hear you tried it and even better that it was successful. Betsy

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:35:07 GMT

Mike Torsney is still competing I believe he had heart problems a year or 2 ago.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:45:45 GMT

I had a heart attack (4 stents) two years ago. I returned to serious workouts and distance a little less than a year ago, and swam in my first masters meets last spring. I have lost weight, my cholesterol numbers are very good, I take lots of medicines. My cardiologist was skeptical about competition, so had to pass a stress test with flying colors to persuade him. Oh, and I had an spontaneous a. fib just after my stress test and they kept me overnight. I had experienced that sensation every once in a while, but not chronically. I continue to read about people who expire or nearly so at masters meets, always as a result of CAD. But here is what I told my cardiologist: What I have gotten back is my self-identification as an athlete. Competition is part of that. I recognize that I have some elevated risk of a cardiac event due to swimming, but it's risk I am prepared to run, because the alternative is discouragement and sloth. Circumstances could change that--I'm not nuts--but for now, I am looking forward to decades of masters swimming. I have recently adopted the life goal of completing a 200 fly in competition. Members of this forum have been very helpful to me, and I hope to meet them, possibly next year at SC nationals, to which I will be going, hell or high water. Good luck working your way through the thicket of all this. You have already been through a great deal. You must be a sturdy soul. Best to you.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:00:30 GMT

At my pool I have become friendly with a fellow swimmer who is about 55, a high techie by profession and had a heart attack a few years back. He swims nearly every day and wears a heart rate monitor. He swims at a constant pace after a thorough w/u. He does not exceed his prescribed max hr. He also eats very well and has lost alot of fat. I am not an MD but common sense would seem to dictate that this is the way to go if you have heart problems. Also,competition is not necessarily something that will help your health.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:54:06 GMT

Actually I'm pretty sure Dave Costill at the Human Performance Lab at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana began testing for slow and fast twitch muscles in the seventies. It involves taking a muscle biopsy and microscopically looking at the fibers (although I don't know if anyone is currently "testing" muscle fibers).

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:17:42 GMT

This thread hits close to home. I take meds for atrial fib, first diagnosed back in '95. Dialing in the proper dosages took weeks, I felt like a zombie. Finally had to be cardioverted and then felt like a million bucks! The cardiologist, (a former diver at Cal Berkeley whose son Caleb Rowe, just completed a great swimming career at Berkeley) said I'd feel great because my heart had been beating at very elevated counts for months ---talk about a long workout --- and now my resting pulse was in the high fifties. I was very into racing outrigger canoes at the time and got all psyched up for a big race a few months later, the adrenaline rush was too much---overode the meds and damn near killed me. Dr. Rowe said no more racing. Tried RF ablation, didn't work. A couple years later my wife, a very activer paddler, died suddenly of ventricular fib. So now I'm 60 and have been swimming with our local masters team for a little over a year, at the most twice a week, about 2500 yards per workout. My goal has been to just do the workout. But lately my times have started coming down, I'm not very fast, but the improvement has been steady and encouraging. The competitive fire never quite went out. I find myself reading the times from Masters meets, wondering what I could do with a little more training? Some of you guys are amazingly fast for your age! I see some familiar names from the old days --- maybe I could make some qualifying times? go to some meets? But to be quite honest, it's a little scary.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:04:49 GMT

I was just talking to my brother he is 76 years old. He had a quadrule by-pass a year and a half ago. He told me he is working out and does a very light warmup and warm down, he does 30 to 40 x 50m. He prefers doing these in a 25m pool but in the summer he uses the long course pool. He says he still has a little pain where the surgery took place.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 16:50:43 GMT

New to forum. This topic hits close to home. Have had excersize induced ventricular tachycardia all my life. When my heart would go haywire I would back off until went back to normal then resume whatever activity was doing. In 2004 I had a heart attack after 1 hour postal swim. Since then I have had to take disrythmia medication for the same vt's wich the docs say may be fatal. Almost went down from these vt's during nuclear stress test following heart attack. Attempted ablation failed because cause was to close to aorta and doc said didn't want to perform it. I am taking a beta blocker Natolol. Not as bad for me as atenolol but still causes lumpy feeling in water and seems to cause breathing difficulties. Have seen good electrophsyiologist recently in Birmingham and said has performed many ablations, I think he used the term aortal. In fact he said hundreds more than anyone in the country. Thinking about it but have bad memory from last experiance. Think one slip and I'm a gonner. Glad to have found topic Don Jennings

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Betsy — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 10:38:06 GMT

I had an attempt at an ablation with 2 local cardiologists. They were not able to get my heart to beat irregularly under anesthesia so they could identify the problem. It was very disappointing. I then went to a doctor at a university teaching hospital who had a great deal of experience. My a-fib was not dangerous, just interferred with my lifestyle (swimming/racing). I did not stay in a-fib, it would flip out of rhythm for a few hours, then flip back. I had no symptoms and no medication (except aspirin) for over a year after the ablation. Then I had several short incidences and one extendend one. I had to have a conversion and then they put me back on 2 medications. Several months later I was able to stop one (that suppressed my heart rate). The one medication I am still on does not seem to have any side effects for me. I feel the best I have in years and am training and racing well. My teammate went to a teaching hospital also. He is also doing well. Again, it was a lifestyle nuisance more than a danger with the a-fib. It seems the cardiologists don't think the ablation is always necessary. I think it was necessary for my well-being. I think it is only a week or two out of the water. Betsy

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Sat, 23 Apr 2005 15:48:01 GMT

Can you tell me about the ablation procedure? I've heard little about it. How experimental is it? Does success generally mean that you don't have a fib ever again? Does failure mean not making it throough the operation? How long a recovery period? Is it just for serious cases?

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 16:02:51 GMT

Ablation is certainly an option if drug treatment fails (or the side effects are intolerable). Antiarrhythmic drugs are at best 65% effective at suppressing a. fib. However, a. fib. ablation is relatively new, not available at all centers, and has produced mixed (but generally good) results.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Betsy — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 08:30:39 GMT

My atrial fib started in 1998 and has been a real problem with training and racing. When it was under control, I could swim as usual, but if it "popped out" of rhythm, I couldn't train or race. I went through numerous medications and finally had an ablation (catherization where they identify the spot or spots causing the problem and cauterized them). I was off all medicaiton for awhile but have since gone back on one medication. I am finally back at the level that I was swimming prior to all of this. The biggest problem was when I went off all medication, I had to retrain my heart to tolerate the intensity of training/racing. The medicaiton had supressed the heartbeat for so long, it was a real surprise when my heartrate could rise, but didn't fall quickly. One of the most important things is to convince your cardiologist that you train seriously and do not want to change your physical activities. As a 56 year old women when it started, it was real education process to make my doctor understand what was important to me. He is now very supportive. One of my teammates just had an ablation in February and has had no further incidences of atrial fib. Betsy Durrant

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 16:52:29 GMT

I guess the short answer to your question is that, in the absence of documented coronary artery disease (or more uncommon conditions like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), the risk of death during strenuous exercise is very low. But probably not zero. However, if your a. fib. is a problem when you exercise, that should be addressed, since it will affect your performance. One final point. I assume you've had your cholesterol checked; given your family history, statin therapy may be a consideration even with a "nomal" value. An inexpensive (about $40) test is the c-reactive protein which is a marker for CAD and may predict who would benefit even more from early institution of a statin.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 16:13:07 GMT

Yes, I had both stress tests. One was nuclear and the other a stress echo. I've also had a heart scan. There is little or no evidence of blockage, and no indication of need for a by-pass. Apparently, the issue is simply that I go into and out of a fib from time to time. Geochuck: I'm sorry that you lost your friend. From what I understand, coronary blockages are helped greatly with exercise and diet. Stents also work to help clear the blockages. But if the blockage is significant, hard exercise is a very, very bad idea because bits and pieces of the plaque can break off and get stuck in the brain (stroke) or the heart (heart attack). Nobody wants to have an operation as its such an invasive procedure. Of course we prefer to do things "naturally," but sometimes we simply need the operation. My father died of a heart attack at age 58 (I'm 57). My father, though, ate poorly, was really overweight, never exercised, had a drinking problem and led a stressed life. My proposed path is to eat well, be in good shape, exercise regularly, be a very light drinker and not feel so stressed. The last item is probably my greatest challenge.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 15:37:00 GMT

Originally posted by Hink How does one get tested for slow and fast twitch? You can't get tested for slow and fast twich fibers. Usually they develop when your young but when you miss the chance to train your fast twitch fibers or the midtwicht fibers they will usually become slow twitch fibers when you get older. But it's mainly about genetics so if you happen to have some retired gold medalists on the sprint distances you could also become a fast sprinter when you get a late start although you surley won't get to break a world record ;) I wrote something more detailed here : forums.usms.org/showthread.php

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 15:00:06 GMT

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.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 12:04:22 GMT

Originally posted by geochuck I had a stress test arranged by my doctor but the guy before me passed on during the test and I decided I was not going to take any chances. If he died during the stress test, then apparently he had significant heart disease. Statistically the risk of death with stress testing is 1 in 10,000. By comparison, the risk of death if you suffer a heart attack is roughly 10%. The key to survival is early detection of coronary artery disease and aggressive risk factor modification (lowering cholesterol, not smoking, control of hypertension and diabetes, diet, exercise, weight loss).

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 05:18:11 GMT

Interesting analogy. The difference is, if he hadn't suffered a heart attack during the stress test, it would have happened some other time.

RE: Heart Condition and Swimming

Former Member — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 05:09:29 GMT

Originally posted by gull80 If he died during the stress test, then apparently he had significant heart disease. Statistically the risk of death with stress testing is 1 in 10,000. By comparison, the risk of death if you suffer a heart attack is roughly 10%. The key to survival is early detection of coronary artery disease and aggressive risk factor modification (lowering cholesterol, not smoking, control of hypertension and diabetes, diet, exercise, weight loss). When the ambulance took him out I left quicklyI know the odds of it happening are great, The odds did not effect the way I felt. My Brother was in London during the blitz. He was on leave and was walking down the street and saw a bomb drop into an anti aircraft gun implacement. He ran over over to see if he could assist. When he was there another bomb dropped into the same spot (I believe the odds to be over 1,000,000 to 1) But he was luckier than the others he survived. Me the coward that I am would have probably gone the other way. George