Weight training after Aneurysm repair

[Dominic11]

In April I had the David Procedure to repair the Acending Aortic Aneurysm that I had. They kept my BAV in tact and the surgery went well. I am 30 years old and have been active my whole life. As a former college basketball player one of the hobbies I enjoy is lifting weights. On this subject I get conflicting feedback from my Surgeon and Cardiologist. Surgeon says I am free to lift and my Cardio Doc says only very light weight with no exercise involving the chest muscles. Just curious to hear any feedback anyone might have? Thanks and God Bless.

 

[ElectLive]

Dominic - You may want to review page 26 (page 27 of the following pdf link) of the 2010 ACC/AHA Thoracic Aortic Disease Patient Management Guidelines: http://content.onlinejacc.org/cgi/reprint/j.jacc.2010.02.010v1.pdf. It discusses both aerobic and isometric exercise in aneurysm patients. To a degree, because of lack of good data, it is monitored and customized per the individual patient, but what is often recommended for isometric is more repetitive lifting of lighter weights, rather than heavy lifting.

 

[Nelson]

I believe that the referenced recommendation in the ACC/AHA Thoracic Aortic Disease Patient Management Guideline is only for patients who have a current aortic aneurism or previously had an aortic dissection repaired, not for those that previously had a simple aneurism repair. I suspect this is because there is some fear that those who have once suffered a dissection are at increased risk of another dissection elsewhere in the aorta. You might want to challenge your cardiologist as to the basis of his recommendation, especially if he is suggesting this as a long term constraint. He may have a legitimate rationale, or he may just be super cautious. I had an AVR and ascending aorta repair on December 6, 2011, and my surgeon indicated that there was absolutely no restriction as to what I will be able to do after my recovery period.

 

[camgough]

I had the same surgery at 30 as well. Glad to hear you are doing well. The surgeon I had put no limits on me, and another surgeon I consulted said no lifting pianos or fridges. I would not over do it, but moderate weights should be ok. I've got back to be weights and feel ok, but still pretty weak. Good luck!

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[Jason]

My surgeon never said anything about weight lifting during the restrictions portion of our discussions, so I asked during cardiac rehab. Several different nurses said the same thing, which was that I should have no restrictions upon successful completion of the program. They cautioned me that this was dependent on the individual and their abilities, and that 'no restrictions' meant that I couldn't lift weights competitively. Barring that, weight lifting for muscle toning and building wasn't a problem.

 

[Bill B]

I had my ascending and transverse arch of the aorta grafted, along with a mechanical valve. My surgeon made it very clear that after a recovery period there would be NO restrictions on exercise or other activities, period. I would think your surgeon has much more direct knowledge of the quality of these repairs and any potential issues associated with exercise after the repair is done and healed than a cardiologist.

 

[Bean Counter]

A few months ago I made a return to lifting after taking about 15 years off. Initially I did it to cross-train as I was fighting some running injuries (non heart related). I ended up falling in love with weight lifting again and have been doing it regularly since then. I ran it by my cardiogist and he did not have any concerns. I have been training with sets of 10 reps and get to the point where I cannot do anymore by last set. On a few occassions, I did do a 1 rep max on bench. I did not get to the point to where I was putting everything I had into it (like my younger days), but was pretty close. The only thing I stopped doing was lying dumbell flys. I just thought any weight bearing exercise that expands the chest is a bad idea.