Hi- another (active) BAV guy here

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Southbayaaron

New member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
4
Location
South Bay area, CA, USA
I just wanted to say hi and this thread seems appropriate since this is my condition. I was diagnosed in February 2013 with BAV- mild level of regurgitation. I went through a full battery of tests with my cardiologist. I'm in awesome shape despite my condition, 37 year old male, asymptomatic. I'm a runner, swimmer, newbie triathlete and gym rat. I've made major adjustments in the gym with the amount of weight I'm pushing. I'm not a huge guy- 6 feet 180 lbs. I was 205 lbs a couple of years ago and really upped the intensity of my gym work outs and running. I'm bummed I've had to scale back some of the stuff I was doing, but overall it's not that bad.

The hardest part of this is that I have no symptoms, but have apparently had this since birth. I worked out like I was training for the Olympics. I guess I am very fortunate I requested an appointment with my cardiologist after my dad was dealing with some atrial flutter. I know the valve is a wear and tear item, and I was probably putting some miles on it. I'm now on an annual check up schedule. I hope it doesn't get worse, but understand it may come down to replacement at some point. Anyway, hellos fellow valvers.

Aaron
 
Hey Guys, Southbayaaron i am almost as active as you, a big gym lover. I started with the sudden bouts of palpitations 4 yrs back and breathlessness followed when i was lifting weights, and then when i was diagnosed i had a moderate reg. Today i am 23 and my reg went from moderate to severe so i have to go under the knives or rather i would say under the saw.:p I never changed my lifestyle even after being diagnosed( i still used to get the palps that settled down with rest) till i started feeling the symptoms to get worse. All i would say is live your life. Your body will tell you when it needs a little repair. Dont worry too much about it. Your annual checks would keep you well informed.

Again- i think you should keep yourself fit no matter what your valve is. :) a fit body= a fit heart. All the best. :)
 
All of you folks - I agree that general fitness is one of the best ways to enhance your recovery and chances for a great life after valve replacement. I was diagnosed at age 52 with (then) moderate to severe aortic stenosis (valve was narrowing, not allowing full blood flow). I was in The Waiting Room for over 9 years, finally having the valve replaced at age 63. During all my time in the waiting room, I was a steady fitness freik - not triathlete level, but a recreational runner/lifter. I did notice that as the years went of, I had to dial it down a couple of notches due to the inability of my heart to pump enough blood. I still was in the gym 5 days a week until just before my surgery.

During surgery and after, I hit many of the bumps in the road - rhythm issues, digestive issues, pacemaker, etc. I didn't start cardiac rehab until I was 12 weeks out from surgery. Now, 2.5 years later, I feel great. I can actually do more exercise/work now than I could do in the years leading up to my surgery. I attribute a lot of this to being in good shape at the time of surgery.Keep up the good work. Adjust as you need to, don't over-do things, but don't give it up - it will make your life even better after surgery.
 
Hi Aaron,

I was a mid-distance runner before my diagnosis (found out at age 45) about my BAV - ran pretty fast - no symptoms - but at the same time I found out that I had BAV, I also found out I had a 5.2 cm aneurysm so I converted to walking (and panicking)

I say listen to your doctors regarding your activity levels - I think that if you're cleared to stay fairly active pre-surgery, you'll have better results post-surgery (IMO)

BTW – I’m back to running and right now I’m two years post OHS – good luck to you!!!
 
Hi Aaron, just wait until you've had the valve fixed - you'll be smashing it! If you're having to cut back what you would like to do, you should be *hoping* that your number gets called because afterwards you won't have these restrictions :)
 
Thanks ski girl. The thought has occurred to me. While I certainly don't want the major surgery, the idea of being unrestricted is appealing. It's funny how limitations make you want to push the limits.
 
Classtime Sailer said:
I don't like the sound of that! Come on Agian! You need to treat that waiting room like an invitation to the olympic trials.
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Cardiologist (No 2) tried to dissuade me from lifting weights. She showed me guidelines discouraging 'isometric exercise' and competitive sports. There goes my netball career. But seriously, I didn't think 'isometric exercise' referred to simple lifting. Anyway, I've reduced the weights I work with. I haven't felt like running, but I'm spending a bit of time on the stationary bike.
 
Southbayaaron said:
Thanks all. The waiting room is a funny expression. I hope my number never gets called, or when it does, the procedure has advanced beyond open heart.
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True, open-heart surgery is a major thing, involving extreme risks and many possible side-effects and troubles later, but I've done it twice and, in my experience, it just gets easier every time and the worst part is just waiting for stuff to heal so that I get moving. YMMV, but I think that those who go through it relatively problem-free are the majority. If you have to do it, keep a positive outlook and be ready to hit the ground running as soon as your (safety-slippered) feet hit the floor on the side of the hospital bed. (Really, the absolute worst part is that extremely annoying Foley catheter. It's great to be able to pee like a person again!)
 
Agian - As I was approaching the time when surgery was needed, my cardio instructed me to reduce the amount of weight I lifted. He said it would be OK to use less weight, more reps, as much as I could tolerate. I've stayed with that approach and it works well enough for me. I am not building bulk (too old and too small for that), but I am adding some muscle mass and improving definition and muscle tone visibly. For example, I used to do curls with a barbell weighing about 65 pounds, for sets of 10 reps. (I know - nothing special there, but I'm older and smaller than you.) I now use a pair of handbells that weigh 15 pounds each (total weight 30 lbs.) but I do sets of 25 reps. Works for me.

I also do a lot of fast walking on an inclined treadmill - only about a 13:00 to 14:00/mile pace, but at a 14% incline. This gets my heart rate up to the 130's. In addition, I ride an airdyne stationary bike at 15-16 miles/hr for 15 to 20 minutes daily. The bike gets my heart rate up to the low 140's.

So, all-in-all, my daily routine consists of curls, lat-pulls, lifts and push-ups in the morning (before I go to work), with the walk and bike after work. Then in addition to that, most days I get out at lunchtime for a walk (1 to 2 miles) and after dinner I walk again for another 1-2 miles. When I keep it all together, I've lost about 7 pounds this year and turned a bit of flab into lean muscle mass, which greatly helped general muscle definition. I feel good about it all - and none of it would have been prohibited by my cardio prior to surgery.
 
Again Trust me as a gym freak i have always liked the lesser weights with more reps. I like more of an athletic built and for that there is nothing better than low weight more reps. It helps you work on ur muscles really well. :)
 
AmyR said:
Again Trust me as a gym freak i have always liked the lesser weights with more reps. I like more of an athletic built and for that there is nothing better than low weight more reps. It helps you work on ur muscles really well. :)
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I am also focusing on higher reps as I recover, and that is the general recommendation from now forward, so I'm curious. How many reps do you suggest? When doing high reps do you still do a number of sets?
 
I always wonder if my activities accelerated my valve's wear. I do fairly intense rock climbing and cycling. I lift to supplement my climbing, though it has usually been low weight high rep. I expect to receive surgery in December and I'm blogging about it. I am maintaining exercise frequency but lowering intensity. Basically keeping my heart rate under 140-150 BPM. My most recent post is about monitoring my heart rate while exercising, which I will be doing religiously for the next year. My post is here: http://robovalve.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/monitoring-bpm-with-digifit/
and my exercise history will be here: http://robovalve.wordpress.com/workouts/
 
Hey Aaron,
Thanks for sharing. I have a BAV as well, with stenosis and some regurgitation. Like you, I have had it since birth but unlike you, I was diagnosed at birth. I have been an athlete my whole life. Played baseball through college, hiking and mountain biking. I don't have any symptoms with mountain biking, which I do 2-4 times per week.

I have had issues with weightlifting my whole life though...it is the only thing that really causes me issues. Strange how we are all different that way.

Did you happen to get the measurement of the Aortic Valve opening??

Thanks,
Ryan
 
AZDON- i love the push ups so yeah thats what i do most. Those do not have specific weights. I keep the number of sets 3 and do reps of 25-30 with a weight of max 30kgs ie 15kg + 15kg. Dumbells i do not exceed 10 kgs each. :) Also depending on how i feel i increase my reps. :)
 
Anthony (Thief) - From all that I've read, both here and in formal publications, there has been no proven link between how hard you work your heart and the rate of "wear" on your valves. We have all been told that there is essentially nothing in our lifestyles that affects the progression of valve disease. It just happens, and differently for each of us. So, don't worry - live your life and do all that you can do.

AZ Don - Most of my free-weight exercises I do in sets of 25 reps. Usually one or two sets are sufficient for me. I do push-ups in a single set of 50. As I gain upper body strength back, I'll probably add additional sets of push-ups. Before surgery, I used to do 3 or 4 sets of 50 push-ups daily before going to work. I guess that is history for me, but I can aspire to get past the first 50.
 
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