Circuit Training & Weights

[R&N Brown]

I know we have many runners and cyclist on this board, It pretty admirable what you are accomplishing.

Would anyone care to share what they are doing for circuit training & cardio?
How soon after surgery did you start?
If your lifting weights, how much and how often?

Rob

 

[BackDoc]

I lifted weights up until the time of my diagnosis. Then it was a year and half before my surgery. I cut back on all activity, but walking. For walking I did high intensity interval walking. (google it)

I started lifting again, very lightly at the 10 week point following surgery. Within a month I was circuit training 3x a week, as well as interval walking. By the 3 month point I was going strong. At 6 months I couldn't tell I ever had surgery.

my circuit consists of: 30 mins interval walking.
weight circuit- clean, alternate dumbell press, straight leg deadlift, push-ups or dips, hack squats, curls, calf raises, triceps extensions, crunches, all for 15-30 reps. repeat 3 times.

 

[SumoRunner]

It was many years before I tried lifting weights again after AVR. My cardiologist said no heavy wts but never defined heavy and my wife construed that to mean lifting a finger. Not that I was ever a regular lifter to begin with but I would go through spurts with it. I have since gone well beyond 1/2 body wt though, but not as far as full body wt.

Cardio workouts I can do until the cows come home. I ran a 10 mile race yesterday and that's nothing unusual on my schedule. I can run 45 mins each day and 2-3 hours any given weekend.

 

[Jim47]

I started serious cardio when I went to Rehab at 7 weeks post surgery. Did not start weight training until 12 weeks and started with lighter weights than I was use to. It has been almost a yearr and I still do my cardio and my weight training is almost back to normal. I went back to my normal weights on everything except bench presses without any problems. At nearly 48 yrs of age I m tending to focus on lighter weights and more reps.

 

[R&N Brown]

Hello, Thank you for the responses.

Jack, I have read a number of your posts and know how much you run. I've never been much of a runner although I have just started in the last couple of weeks. I use to jog with the football team I coached 4-5 years ago. It got to a point where I just couldn't do it any more. Then I wrote it off as sedentary lifestyle and age. It was probably the initial signs of my valve problem.

BackDoc, Thanks for the input. I started back to the gym with my cardio's permission about 8 weeks ago. He gave me no real instruction as to what was too much and how much weight was too much so I have been doing mostly body weight exercises, walking, and cardio machines.

I go to the gym 6 days a week. 3 days I do 30-35 minutes of interval cardio, then walk a mile, do 25 push ups, 25 ham-glutes, 210 crunches, 4-25 second planks, and 50 jumping jacks. 10 minutes of stretches.

The other 3 days I do a body weight circuit of 12 exercises, 20 reps @, I follow with the 210 crunches, glutes & Planks. Then 6 weighted exercises, I only use up to 30LB dumb bells so far, I can feel a little pull. I use 5 machines. Cool down & stretches.

Each visit takes between 60 & 90 Minutes. I feel good, don't feel like I'm overdoing. Everything seems to holding in place.

I am hoping to be fit enough to run in a 5K July 4th without embarrassing myself.

Again, Thank you for the posts, I hope we can continue this conversation and that others will chine in.

Rob

Rob