(for us old guys) Your risk of a *cardiac event

I figured. Guys don't get into good shape overnight. A "before" stress test would have been interesting.

I'm a rhythm patient. My first stress test was awful. PVCs all over the place. The post-procedure one was a piece of cake, other than my sweaty body wanted to shed the electrodes. My cardiologist needed more hands to keep my connected while she took my BP. Looking back it was funny. In the room at the time? I just wanted to surpass the FAA requirements, which I did with ease.
 
Stewartb said:
I figured. Guys don't get into good shape overnight. A "before" stress test would have been interesting.

I'm a rhythm patient. My first stress test was awful. PVCs all over the place. The post-procedure one was a piece of cake, other than my sweaty body wanted to shed the electrodes. My cardiologist needed more hands to keep my connected while she took my BP. Looking back it was funny. In the room at the time? I just wanted to surpass the FAA requirements, which I did with ease.
Click to expand...

Hey more pretty nurses to look at right?
 
weilke said:
I gave up my addiction to pizza, pasta and bread 25lbs ago. No more soda, no starch with meals, smaller portion sizes. No more late night raids of the chocolate cabinet. No eating of leftovers from the kids.
Click to expand...

Yabut...you didn't say how!
 
We
Let'sgoflying! said:
Yabut...you didn't say how!
Click to expand...

The birth dates of your acquaintances who keel over from heart attacks creeping up ot yours is a great motivator to modify your cardiovascular risk.

'Thank's, I'll just have a salad' are the magic words. Nobody claimed it would be easy.
 
Stewartb said:
I figured. Guys don't get into good shape overnight. A "before" stress test would have been interesting.

I'm a rhythm patient. My first stress test was awful. PVCs all over the place. The post-procedure one was a piece of cake, other than my sweaty body wanted to shed the electrodes. My cardiologist needed more hands to keep my connected while she took my BP. Looking back it was funny. In the room at the time? I just wanted to surpass the FAA requirements, which I did with ease.
Click to expand...
Yes, staying in shape is a lifestyle decision. Commitment and discipline are needed and it sounds like Bill has plenty of both. Personally, I try to do some hill climbing 2-3 times a week, and do several >2000-ft elevation gain day hikes during the summer, averaging about 3/month. Living in VT has advantages that way. Unfortunately, I've been a rhythm patient too, though I declined the intervention in favor of medication. That was 14 years ago now. Still have occasional PVCs and twinges, do the Bruce protocol test with imaging (echo) 2-3 times a decade now, but it always comes back negative for ischemia, and Holters always show nothing but benign ectopy. Hopefully I'll never have a recurrence of what I had.

Bill, really good news that you've got your medical back and can go BasicMed from now on. Congratulations!
 
Bill Jennings said:
SMJ-57-347-g008.jpg
Click to expand...

Holy crap. Speed is one thing but those inclines are brutal!

I do 45 minutes to an hour on the threadmill at least 4 times a week (when it's too crappy to get real exercise outside). I start at 2mph @ 6% and ramp up every minute until I max out for how I'm feeling that day. My typical max is 4mph @ 12%, I'll do that for 15 to 20 minutes before slowly ramping back down.

5mph @ 18%...get outta here! That's insane.
 
timwinters said:
Holy crap. Speed is one thing but those inclines are brutal!

I do 45 minutes to an hour on the threadmill at least 4 times a week (when it's too crappy to get real exercise outside). I start at 2mph @ 6% and ramp up every minute until I max out for how I'm feeling that day. My typical max is 4mph @ 12%, I'll do that for 15 to 20 minutes before slowly ramping back down.

5mph @ 18%...get outta here! That's insane.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Stage V is all about...”tell me again how I got here....”?
 
bbchien said:
Yeah. Stage V is all about...”tell me again how I got here....”?
Click to expand...

I got there because YOU said it was imperative that I hit my target heart rate, and that's what it took to hit the numbers. :biggrin:

Yeah, stage five sucked hard, not enjoyable at all.
 
You guys give me all kinds of grief over my vegetarian habits, but I just hit the top range of my graduate school weight this morning.
 
Let's see... I've gotten about a minute into Stage 5... yes it's serious exertion, but it's not THAT bad. I'm sure I've reached that level hiking up summits here in New England... which is something I do for FUN.

I no longer take the Bruce protocol that far, just because it isn't necessary and increases the risk of a false positive... but if I had to for some reason it wouldn't be THAT big a deal.
 
azure said:
Let's see... I've gotten about a minute into Stage 5... yes it's serious exertion, but it's not THAT bad. I'm sure I've reached that level hiking up summits here in New England... which is something I do for FUN.

I no longer take the Bruce protocol that far, just because it isn't necessary and increases the risk of a false positive... but if I had to for some reason it wouldn't be THAT big a deal.
Click to expand...

You must be in great shape. I work out often, I balance lifting, jogging, and bicycling, and I found stage five to be taxing. I wouldn't voluntarily push myself that hard.
 
Bill Jennings said:
You must be in great shape. I work out often, I balance lifting, jogging, and bicycling, and I found stage five to be taxing. I wouldn't voluntarily push myself that hard.
Click to expand...
I'm not at the moment, but in the summer I try to hike in the mountains at least a couple of times a week, and do hill climbing when I don't have time to do real back country hiking. Elevation gain on my typical hikes ranges from 1200 feet to 2600. A couple of summers ago I did a loop hike in NH that was more like 4000, but I doubt I'll ever do it again as even during the week it was a zoo.

I agree with you that Stage 5 was hard, just that it wasn't so taxing as to make me never want to do it again. Which is pretty much the same way I feel about Camel's Hump. ;)

I expect it's going to be especially hard to get back into shape this spring, because we've had an unusually harsh and snowy winter (compared to the last few). It's either been too deep (snow) or too muddy to climb on trails, so all I've been able to do is fast walk around the village and campus. It's not flat but it isn't really hilly either, and is definitely NOT enough to stay in condition.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top