Cycling UK Forum

Having had a heart attack in january followed by a visit to hospital and an angioplasty op. and a stent fitted I have now started a cardiac rehabilition at the local leisure centre which I find to be very good as they keep an eye on your heart rate blood pressure etc.I have also restarted cycling as this is my main activity.I should perhaps say that I am 68 and have cycled for 60 years and that I ride a road bike.Is there anyone with experience of this type who can give me some advice as to how to progress and if there are things that I should not be doing.Before having this problem I did a regular three hours riding daily and would like to return to that level.

zoot wrote:Having had a heart attack in january followed by a visit to hospital and an angioplasty op. and a stent fitted I have now started a cardiac rehabilition at the local leisure centre which I find to be very good as they keep an eye on your heart rate blood pressure etc.I have also restarted cycling as this is my main activity.I should perhaps say that I am 68 and have cycled for 60 years and that I ride a road bike.Is there anyone with experience of this type who can give me some advice as to how to progress and if there are things that I should not be doing.Before having this problem I did a regular three hours riding daily and would like to return to that level.

I have recently had a triple bypass and after my operation and six weeks cardiac rehab I was walking 3 to 4 miles a day and then I was cycling regularly. I think that if you feel ok you can do what you like.

Hello Zoot
congratulationson your recovery. There was quite an exchange of info re cardiac recovery a little while ago:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=3698&highlight=

Hope it helps.

thanks for the replies from Kentish man and peevafred both of which were very helpfull.I would interested in your subsequent progress as cyclists,for instance any problems etc.? zoot.

The husband of a friend of my wife is a cyclist of about your age who had a minor heart attack and stent fitted several years ago. I think he carried on pretty much as normal once he had been given the go ahead to get back to cycling. Last time I saw him out on his bike he had just ridden up Storrs Hill (signed 17%) overlooking Horbury Junction. I think his main concern was an assurance of my discretion so my wife did not report back to his. By coincidence, the ladies are all out together tomorrow. I'll try to get a sitrep without raising any suspicions.

Do not worry about stents, take your time. Build up you cycling slowly and steadily - listen to your body. Sometimes it will tell you that you should not be doing what you are trying to get it to do. Ihad a heart attack some 14 months ago. I still manage to put in 200 miles a week, but I then find I have to have a day or so off. I also invariably go to bed early on these days. I met up with a group of about nine CTC members (I was the 10th) at least a third of us had had heart attacks and were either stented or with by-passes. A bit of patience and listen to your Doctors, Nurses and Consultants.

That reminds me. My wife made some discreet enquiries the other night. The person I mentioned is still riding regularly. He does quite a lot of sonsored rides for charity and has won a bike donated by a bike shop for the highest amount raised. And he is probably riding a bit harder than his wife knows about.

zoot wrote:thanks for the replies from Kentish man and peevafred both of which were very helpfull.I would interested in your subsequent progress as cyclists,for instance any problems etc.? zoot.

Hello Zoot,
I had a very slack cycling year in 2007, I was using the car to take my son to work until October then didn't get back into commuting with the onset of winter. However, I did start going to the gym from November for a weekly session with a personal trainer (this sounds so pretentious, I know). It has been a great help on the following counts:
I've made the effort to go along every week;
the trainer is a qualified sports injury therapist with knowledge and experience of working with clients who've had heart problems;
he shows me how to use the equipment properly, monitors me continually and I feel confident that he's pushing me, but safely.

All that said, I do get a very thorough work out that leaves me feeling well and truly cream crackered after an hour. Aerobic exercises include (not all every week) the bike, treadmill, cross trainer, stepping machine and rowing machine while weights include pulling down, pushing away, pulling to, weight lifting, and lying on your back on an infernal contraption and pushing with your feet to propel your whole body. To finish with there are the stomach exercises - oh joy!

I'm surprised at what I can do now - and having started the cycle commute to work again, I've found a far better level of fitness than I expected. On equipment that measures heart rate, e.g. the cross trainer, I find that I can now exceed 130 bpm with no ill effect. While I can feel wiped out at the end of a session, I've not felt any problems afterward.

I'm currently preparing for a 100k audax next weekend.