Swimming

[Pocketfull]

My husband has some damage to the apex of his left ventricle (ef approx 40-45) + an lvt that is being dissolved with anticoagulant. He's physically well, has just finished cardio rehab & has been told to exercise normally. However the physios have told him to focus on leg/lower body exercises & also on upright exercise. When told he has always swum they said he could swim perhaps. It's all a bit vague. Does anyone have experience of swimming for fitness in his situation or advice or sources of advice? Thanks

[Stentsandrun]

Hi. I have previously looked into this, they are two basic problems. The first probably won't be applicable, but if it is in open water and especially alone then it's not a great idea for obvious reasons, at least not until he is further into his "journey". The main problem with pool swimming is that because of the environment it is quite easy to not realise how much effort you are putting in, and can start to raise your HR above any recommended level. again it's not the best environment to be in if you do have any cardiac events. However I would suggest he gets a waterproof HR monitor and just take it easy, I have done it quite a lot it's a great way to exercise which is far better than not doing anything despite any risks. At the end of the day there could be half a dozen people in the pool who don't even know they have heart disease, yet?

[Pocketfull in reply to Stentsandrun]

Thanks. Yes very cold water and swimming alone are no nos! I think his history of regular swimming means he can be aware of his pace and take it easy. The HR monitor is a good idea. There's something about different chambers of the heart being pressured by different positions/exercise types thus the legs+vertical=good, arms+horizontal=not so good!

[Stentsandrun in reply to Pocketfull]

never heard of that one!

[Pocketfull]

I think the vertical+legs thing is about maximising recovery of the heart muscle?? Will have to check again before he starts pounding out lengths!

[Cocoadonkey]

Hi. My husband had a cardiac arrest 2 years ago, luckily we had just walked into A & E when he collapsed or he would probably not be here.

We were recently told that his ef is around 35 so he is in heart failure, but the specialist told him cardio exercise would help and swimming, so not sure if that helps.

Again he is physically fit and we had no idea he had a low ef until we used our private care for a check up as he had not seen anyone since his cardio rehab finished - slipped through the system !

[Coffeelover2]

I had exactly the same thing - lvt and apical heart damage. First of all exercise is good but should be moderate intensity to begin with - 5 out of 10. Warm up and cool down correctly. The only thing I was told to be careful with was weightlifting and holding my breath. You are not meant to hold your breath for long or lie down horizontally after exercise. Swimming is ok but you don’t know how hard you are exercising and obviously you are in a pool which brings its own risk. With an LVT and making sure he takes his anticoagulants every day - after 3 or 4 months, the chances of the LVT doing anything are very small. In rehab, my target heart rate was lower than what my normal max is but I did start rowing, cycling and jogging for at least 10 minutes on each exercise. I have gone to the gym and done more.

[Ewloe]

yep. Swimming is me. Had STEMI 2 and a half years ago, left me with heart muscle damage in left ventricle. EF increased from 40% to 46% ( has been a while since last echo). It also left me with bits of a few arrhythmia’s. On loads of medications.

I swam a bit before but rehab told me to always swim in a manned pool, not to swim in water below 26 degrees and be aware of the effort your heart has to work for swimming.

I now swim 2/3 sessions a week which is 2/3 miles a week. At least 70 lengths in a 25 metre pool. I’ve gradually built up to this. And have most likely reached my limit. I also do aqua fitness.

I wear an Apple Watch and are aware of my arrhythmias. (PAF, NSVT,SVT).

Take your time, listen to your body, find a pool you feel safe in and don’t push yourself too hard too quickly. Good luck

[GFFF in reply to Ewloe]

I had my STEMI around the same time, was a regular swimmer before the HA. Under cardio guidance I went back after 2-3 months, very slowly at first but now upto almost 2 miles a week