Can you still do exercise with AF?

[jillgloucester]

I hope I can still play badminton? And jog walk, scared it might be dangerous?

[BobD Volunteer]

The smart a==e answer is could you before? Listen to your body is the best advice and don't try to push past what is comfortable. Exercise is good, silly blighter balls out exercise is bad.

[CaroleF]

BobD says it all really. It's all up to how you feel. I don't exercise as much/as vigorously as I used to but that's more to do with the betablocker's effects (slows me down) than it is with AF itself.

[Hidden]

Follow your doctor's specific orders, but I believe exercise greatly helps with AFib and maintaining normal sinus rhythm. I exercise more than I did before my AFib episode.

[RiderontheStorm]

E X E R C I S E... yes. I believe had I not had a strong exercise power lifting regiment for the last 30 years I would not have fared as well as I have in this past year.

[Hidden]

Listen to you body in the context of your past habits re all things including exercise.

I had bouts of AF or 'warnings' that it was trying to start when I played tennis (my style was to serve and pick up every drop shot like Murray) so I have stopped playing. I also had bouts when skiing at altitude so that's been dropped as has pushing myself running.

Instead I do walking with poles x2 miles per day, work quite hard in my orchard, table tennis and soon will be trying out walking basketball. Initially I missed the adrenaline surge but realise avoiding episodes is more important.

[Pam296]

My cardiologist positively encouraged me to carry on exercising. He said that if I have an episode in the gym, just stop and let the heart rate go down. I'm more careful about using weights now and make sure I keep well hydrated as have found heat to be a trigger. I'm hoping that losing the excess weight will slow the progress of my PAF.

Keep doing what you enjoy but listen to your body.

[Hidden]

I'm with Bob on this one. Is your AF triggered by exercise? Did you play badminton competitively at club level or was it socially? Have you run and done cardio exercise over many years? Do you run 7 minute miles or 10 minute miles? A brisk walk especially over undulating terrain would be good whether you're a cardio bunny or not. I find that clinicians still repeat that your maximum heart rate should be 220 minus your age. If you've a good background in cardio you'll probably find the Karvonen formula or a variant is better.

One area of caution - I'm sure that regular forum members will be tired of me saying this - exercise will not make you bullet proof but you will recover quicker. I was a cardio bunny for years with all the right stats', but I was advised by an EP not to take an anticoagulant. Eighteen months later I had a full stroke that has left me partially sighted. However, life is for living, so smile and carry on!

[bayfield in reply to Hidden]

Good advice John. I'm curious about the particulars of your stroke. Were you experiencing AF at the time of the stroke? I'm currently in normal sinus rhythm after two ablations, the last one was 20 months ago. At age 60 I know I may have to anticoagulate soon regardless of my current condition due to my past history of AF. I too am active and get the feeling sometimes that my exercise will make me "bullet proof".

Thanks for contributing to the board - and best of luck to you in your journey!

[Hidden in reply to bayfield]

I was 68 when I had a stroke. It was three days since I had been in the gym and I wasn't stressed or in AF. Additionally I didn't have FAST systems and, the ambulance crew talked to me for an hour before realising that I had experienced a full stroke. I'm such an unlikely candidate for a stroke that I do Q and A sessions for medical students led by my GP, where they try to diagnose my medical issues.

[jillgloucester in reply to Hidden]

Thank you... Very interesting and help ful indeed...

I never push myself to limits. I'm just trying to keep my muscles strong, especially legs! Ha

Just jog walk and social badminton,, I think I will do this stuff when I'm not in AF?. Makes sense to me , I think!!!!????

[TonyRands]

I carried on running with AF but found my performance dropped by around 15%. I certainly listened to my body and only carried on as I never felt any adverse effects other than being slower. If I had felt adverse effects I would have stopped immediately.

[Hidden in reply to TonyRands]

I just had to stop and sit or lie down not just with exercise just walking floored me a lot. Surgery pills and pacemaker have improved my QOL so much

[TonyRands in reply to Hidden]

I think I was lucky with my af and the cardiologist was surprised I had so few effects. Many other people are more seriously affected.

[Hidden in reply to TonyRands]

Hi Tony; medical text books on AF quote a 30% drop in power output and my early running and turbo-trainer figures were about a 20% drop, so at 15% you had good cardio fitness. Whilst I couldn't manage the running, the non-weightbearing exercise allowed my body to adapt to an 8%-10% drop over the years. The stroke has limited my exercise to just intermediate level Pilates and winter scrub clearance, but I hope to be back to full activity if I can clear my shed sufficiently to fit in a folding rowing machine; no more 22 minute 5k rowing sessions though!

[castanes]

I was lucky enough to have been referred to a cardio rehab program at a hospital. It was my cardiologist who referred me when I told him that I was too scared to resume exercising since it was exercising on a treadmill that set off my first AFib episode. We are eased back into exercising under supervision in the program. I now exercise on my own in a gym, following guidelines, and still go to the supervised exercise program once a week until July when I will be discharged. I would not have resumed my workouts without this program as I would have been too afraid to. All that to say that you might want to enquire about the existence of a cardio rehab program in your area. Best of luck to you.

[Gezp in reply to castanes]

How did You get a referral onto the program or is it private? Would be interested to know some more detail of the content as I too am tying to get back into an exercise regime following an Afib episode

[Hidden in reply to Gezp]

I was referred post cardiac surgery it was quite easy compared to past regimes but I gained my self confidence back in a supervised environment

[castanes in reply to Gezp]

I was referred to the program by my cardiologist. It was paid for by my province's medical insurance (I live in Canada where we have universal health care coverage). Hope that helps.

[castanes]

Hi. I live in Canada and luckily 99 % of it i9s covered by our universal medical insurance program. It is at Women's College Hospital in Toronto if by chance you live in the area. They asked for a one time donation of 150$. It is considered to be a charitable donation and it can therefore be declared as such on one's tax return. The donation can be waived if paying it is difficult. The program includes the physical education part, diet, medicine education, stress reduction instruction, weight loss workshops and access to a nutritionist, social worker, pharmacist, depending on what your needs are. It is a great program. I am sure that there are similar ones around the world. I believe that the program that I am in requires that you are either judged to be at risk of developing cardiac problems, or that you have experienced a cardiac "event". A medical person must refer you to the program. I am including a link to a description of the program here, although it would seem that a lot of the members of this list appear to be UK based. Perhaps some list members are located in Canada however : womenscollegehospital.ca/pr...

Best wishes to you in your quest to get back into exercise. I can honestly say that I would not have taken up cardio workouts were it not for this program out of the sheer fear of having another Afib episode.

[George2467814 in reply to castanes]

I have slow irregular heartbeats....on 5mg...Bisoprolol ...re exercise. Walking gardening indoor bowls and swimming....@ 85 I'm just happy to move along at a comfortable pace but I feel it's most important to be active in some form daily even just getting about in the garden is beneficial....as many have said listen to your body...work within your own limits...and be happy....Bye