Tips from a Cardiologist

[Bestwifeever]

I have an appointment with these cardiologists at mass general in Boston in a month.

https://www.massgeneral.org/heartcenter/services/treatmentprograms.aspx?id=1364

I have a couple of heart issues (aneurysm and Tachycardia) and am a cyclist trying to train well and safely.

My cardiologist says they are leaders for athletes with cardiac issues so will report back on what they recommend.

This could be really interesting--please do follow up here and report on what you learn.

 

[braumeister]

I suspect you're doing great, street.

The part that gets some people is that rather than a steady challenging hike like you do, they take a couple of five minute walks across a parking lot, then a couple of flight of stairs, and so on throughout the day, then add them all up. A sustained elevated heart rate for more than 15 minutes (absolute minimum) is needed to do you any good at all. As I said, a brisk walk is really all it takes to stay in shape.

 

[eytonxav]

I don't think treadmills are built to reach such angles. You probably meant percent, rather than degrees.

Your correct, should have said percent.

 

[HFWR]

I suspect you're doing great, street.



The part that gets some people is that rather than a steady challenging hike like you do, they take a couple of five minute walks across a parking lot, then a couple of flight of stairs, and so on throughout the day, then add them all up. A sustained elevated heart rate for more than 15 minutes (absolute minimum) is needed to do you any good at all. As I said, a brisk walk is really all it takes to stay in shape.

But walking across the parking lot and taking the stairs is much better than not.

https://www.acefitness.org/educatio...lly-provide-the-same-benefit-as-exercising-in

The reality is the recommendations published in the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health as well as in the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association’s physical activity and public health guidelines state that to improve health and reduce risk of chronic disease individuals should aim to engage in a total of at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week. This can be performed in 30 minutes bouts of activity five days a week or it may be accumulated throughout the day through intermittent exercise bouts of at least 10 minutes in duration.

I’m somewhat bewildered when folks circle the parking lot to get a close spot, at the fitness center...

 

[stepford]

I monitor my heart afterwards and my heart stays elevated far longer than I remember. My resting heart rate is close to 50, but sometimes after hard workouts it takes a few days to get back down to 50. Sometimes it stays in the low 60’s for a few days.

That mirrors my experience over the last few years. After a long day of mountain biking I find that I'm still breathing a bit harder and my heart rate remains somewhat elevated for several hours afterwards. Not a lot, but maybe 10 bpm over what it "should" be. A couple of days ago I did a 25 miler up in the Utah desert with a couple K of elevation gain and my HR wasn't back to normal until the next morning. I'm 57 now and have noticed this ever since my late 40s, but exercise a lot more now than I had time to then.

 

[Richard4444]

OK - the guilt got to me. I usually stroll for about an hour at ~ 2 mph and chat with the neighbors, etc. This article, plus finding out that a 58 y o acquaintance supposedly (or so he thought) in good shape had a quintuple bypass last week got me to do 3.4 mph for 30 mph this morning on the treadmill, and I plan to get back into it daily. Thanks to the OP !

Rich

 

[mpeirce]

It’s a trade off for me. I walk a lot and try to keep it brisk, but if I walk too fast I develop an ache in one leg behind my knee.

I figure it’s way better to walk at 3mph than to not walk at all.

 

[bmcgonig]

That mirrors my experience over the last few years. After a long day of mountain biking I find that I'm still breathing a bit harder and my heart rate remains somewhat elevated for several hours afterwards. Not a lot, but maybe 10 bpm over what it "should" be. A couple of days ago I did a 25 miler up in the Utah desert with a couple K of elevation gain and my HR wasn't back to normal until the next morning. I'm 57 now and have noticed this ever since my late 40s, but exercise a lot more now than I had time to then.

Me too. I'm 62 and this just started to happen to me in the last few years. The elevated heart rate will continue all evening. As an aside I was diagnosed with AFib last year and doing some research I found that HIIT is recommended for that too. People in a study that did 4 sets of 4 mins at 85-95% followed by 3mins of 70% had a lower AFib burden than those that did the regular cardio. I've been doing it and I enjoy it more than regular cardio which I find terribly boring. But..the OP article implies that some of us at the older end of the scale might have hidden issues that we don't know about so don't do it. It's making me hesitate, that's for sure.

 

[gerntz]

Mine told me to take a statin & I am.

 

[Jeff76Canada]

Scooters were all over at the Disney parks. I wonder what the conversation was when they first ordered them.

"How many do you think we'll need, a dozen?"

"Make it two dozen, just to be safe."

Off by a factor of 100, at least.

On the other hand, if people come to FL in the heat and haven't been exercising at all, walking all over those parks is asking for trouble.

I've been last month there with the kids, there are lots of them!! Disney and other rental companies which deliverers at the gate!

 

[antmary]

I am 72, and live in NorCal. We have 10 acres, and every morning I get out and push my gas powered push mower: up slight hills, around oak trees, over poison oak bushes, etc. I do this until I get sweaty and tired, usually from 30 mins. to 1 hour. Honest to God, I never thought I'd like mowing, but I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I see a field free from fire-fuel. It is a form of meditation, because I have to pay attention and stay in the here-and-now. I do like walking if there is variation in the scenery. Thanks so much for the topic!

 

[6miths]

Love mowing the lawn. Hope I will still be doing it at 72. Carry on! And these self-propelled mowers come on! I actually got a reel mower to improve the workout! Only have an acre though and only a third of it needs to be cut.

 

[street]

I am 72, and live in NorCal. We have 10 acres, and every morning I get out and push my gas powered push mower: up slight hills, around oak trees, over poison oak bushes, etc. I do this until I get sweaty and tired, usually from 30 mins. to 1 hour. Honest to God, I never thought I'd like mowing, but I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I see a field free from fire-fuel. It is a form of meditation, because I have to pay attention and stay in the here-and-now. I do like walking if there is variation in the scenery. Thanks so much for the topic!

Interesting and 10 acres is a lot of mowing from a push mower. You are the man and a never ending job I would bet!

 

[akidagain2018]

Thanks for your clarification. I think a lot of non-athletes want to and some do marathons or halfs, but aren't prepared for them, not in the proper condition. When I did marathons, four over four years, I ran them at my training pace, approximately 8 min per mile. I had been doing 35+ miles a week for years. It really wasn't much of a stretch, and I wasn't running all that long. People who need over four hours should consider the toll of all that time running, not just the miles. And I a love the professional couch potatoes who write articles for mass distribution about the perils of running. It may sell papers and magazines but not the formula for each person reading it. Running and similar physical challenges is the same as it ever was, it's about training not racing.

 

[akidagain2018]

I googled this because I was unaware of this stat. For good reason. I see 2 from a 2014 race, and that was a half-marathon. Not "a few" in "various Raleigh marathons" unless you can show me where I missed them. I see that another person died in the first mile of the 5-mile Krispy Kreme challenge, in which you have to eat 12 donuts over the course of the race. Not a marathon at all.

I also make the distinction of the half-marathon, because people often think they happen in marathons, so the ultra marathons I do must be even worse since they are longer. My observation, without looking at the numbers, is that a lot more people die in half-marathons.

One reason for that is probably pure statistics, that I think a lot more people run halfs than fulls. But another is that most runners tend to train seriously for a full, but not all will for a half. And a full marathon is generally run at a pace at which you can hold a conversation, which means your HR doesn't get too high. A half marathon, run competitively, is a lot more intense, and for a significant amount of time (compared to a 5 or 10K).

My reply to you is above, right up there.....

Still forgetting quote vs reply.

 

[antmary]

Interesting and 10 acres is a lot of mowing from a push mower. You are the man and a never ending job I would bet!

Haha...I am a woman

 

[gayl]

I was a regular runner for a few years around age 30, but I quit running a long time ago assuming it would lead to joint pain eventually. But I still walk almost every day.

I was surprised at the walking pace in the article, IME 2 mph is REALLY slow. That sounds like a very casual stroll.

+1000!!

 

[kcowan]

Haha...I am a woman

Yes but What a Woman!

 

[redduck]

Below is from the original newspaper article:

...5.) Slow walking is a harbinger of death in middle and old age.
You might want to pick up the pace the next time you go for a walk.
"We now realize that even somebody's walking speed is a good index of their overall health," Franklin said. "Several studies have now shown that if middle age and older adults in their day-to-day activities walk at less than 2 miles an hour, we say that's a harbinger of the approaching grim reaper, the personification of death...
"Whereas numerous studies now show that middle age and older adults who walk briskly — 3 miles an hour or faster — generally have very good health profiles. So I tell our patients, invariably, you can disguise your exercise by picking up your pace, simply walking on day-to-day basis at 3 miles an hour or faster."
++++

Below is redduck's, uh, thoughts?
I've come up with a way to test the thesis from the above newspaper article: It's an experiment.

Take a random group of 120 people, ages ranging from 60-75. Divide them into two groups. Have one group walk 3+miles per hour for an hour, five times a week. Have the other group do the same, but they are to walk at any pace they want as long as it's less than 3 miles per hour. At the end of 30 days we can discover which group represents the "harbinger of death" by counting the dead (or those who were admitted to the ICU) from each of the two groups. The motivation the participants could be a free four month subscription to LOL's Market-Timing Newsletter.

I imagine that this experiment could be improved upon, but it's a start.

 

[eytonxav]

Below is redduck's, uh, thoughts?
I've come up with a way to test the thesis from the above newspaper article: It's an experiment.

Take a random group of 120 people, ages ranging from 60-75. Divide them into two groups. Have one group walk 3+miles per hour for an hour, five times a week. Have the other group do the same, but they are to walk at any pace they want as long as it's less than 3 miles per hour. At the end of 30 days we can discover which group represents the "harbinger of death" by counting the dead (or those who were admitted to the ICU) from each of the two groups. The motivation the participants could be a free four month subscription to LOL's Market-Timing Newsletter.

I imagine that this experiment could be improved upon, but it's a start.

I like your thoughts and suspect maintaining a sense of humor outweighs the benefits of walking.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I used to power walk 4 miles/hour right until I fell hard and had a concussion and then fell another time and broke my finger. I have slowed down on purpose now. Of course that was before I had my cataracts done). I walk between 2.5-3 mph now.

 

[braumeister]

OK - the guilt got to me. I usually stroll for about an hour at ~ 2 mph and chat with the neighbors, etc. This article, plus finding out that a 58 y o acquaintance supposedly (or so he thought) in good shape had a quintuple bypass last week got me to do 3.4 mph for 30 mph this morning on the treadmill, and I plan to get back into it daily. Thanks to the OP !

Congratulations on getting the message!
And it's never too late to start. I always had the goal of doing a marathon, but never got around to it until after I retired. I trained for a year and did my first one at the age of 58. Did two more, then scaled back to just half marathons after that. And it's also perfectly OK to be at the back of the pack. Just finishing is an accomplishment.

 

[street]

Haha...I am a woman

So sorry! You are the Lady and that is a great work out each day. Very sorry and I meant no harm. LOL

 

[Murf2]

Great work but I'm a little confused. If you mow an hour a day, what amount would that get done, a half an acre?

So are you mowing everyday and continually rotating through your acreage?

I like to mow but dang, you got heck of a hobby going on there!

Murf

I am 72, and live in NorCal. We have 10 acres, and every morning I get out and push my gas powered push mower: up slight hills, around oak trees, over poison oak bushes, etc. I do this until I get sweaty and tired, usually from 30 mins. to 1 hour. Honest to God, I never thought I'd like mowing, but I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I see a field free from fire-fuel. It is a form of meditation, because I have to pay attention and stay in the here-and-now. I do like walking if there is variation in the scenery. Thanks so much for the topic!

 

[redduck]

I like your thoughts and suspect maintaining a sense of humor outweighs the benefits of walking.

Thanks. I like my thoughts as well (at least some of them). However, just in case humor doesn't outweigh the benefits of walking, today I combined humor and walking. I watched Ricky Gervais (Netflix) while I was on the treadmill.