AF and weight lifting

[Laurap18]

Hello everyone! Last May I had an episode of atrial fibrillation and I had to do a cardioversion. After that, my heart rhytm has come back to normal and my heart rate has been in the normal range since. I was a little bit scared at first, but the doctor told me that after the cardioversion I could come back to a normal life and I could go to the gym. So I did start exercising at the gym again, but now I am getting worried about how much and what kind of exercise is safe. Do you think lifting weights is ok? I am talking about light/moderate weights. Is there anyone here that lifts weight with AF? I feel silly to call my doctor just to ask this question. Any advice is really appreciated, thanks

[Hidden]

Dear Laurap18

Please don't worry about feeling silly about contacting your Dr or better still your heart team, its a lot more serious question than you may possibly realise.

Hopefully for you you the answer maybe yes, to the weight lifting, for many of us its a no { different diagnosis } and we have to find another way to keep/get fit.

good luck, make that call to ease your worries and keep us informed.

[Laurap18 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the advice! At the end, I decided to contact my cardiologist (better safe than sorry lol) and luckily he told me it's fine

[1290Duke]

Hi there. I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in March this year, and so far only had that one episode. First thing I did was research the hell out of it and was pointed to York Cardiology on Youtube. In one of his videos he discusses a study that had AF patients on a HIIT program which demonstrated that exercise reduces both frequency and duration of AF episodes. I did the program for 11 weeks and then moved onto weight training which I've been doing for approx 5 months now. I train 3 x per week, 3 sets of five and I only do compound lifts - squat, deadlift, bench, overhead press and pull-ups and I've been absolutely fine. My heart actually feels better (more stable) after a hard session. You will be fine on light / moderate weights. When you start to get your confidence back move onto heavier weights. It's important to maintain strength and muscle mass as well as cardio fitness as it's critical for metabolic health.

[Laurap18 in reply to 1290Duke]

That's great! My cardiologist also confirmed me that is fine for me, so I'm ready to be back