I have chronic lyme and as such have many of the neurological symptoms that go along with it. I have noticed recently that my exercise tolerance isn't the best, and that a heart stress test may say I have "poor exercise tolerance." I have been trying to build that back up, however.
Here's my dilemma. Everyone says to exercise to your target heart rate, right? Well for me, as a 29 year old male, my MAXIMUM heart rate is 191, meaning a good exercise heart rate for me is 140. Unfortunately, I need only to walk at a moderate pace to hit 140 on my heart monitor.
When I say "moderate," I mean in between a normal, lesiurely pace and a brisk, fast walk.
The good news is I don't sweat or feel tired or out of breath when I'm done with a 30 minute walk at this moderate pace - which makes me feel I am capable of more.
The bad news is I don't know if it's safe for me to be exercising above my target heart rate and it seems hypersensitive to exercise at the present time.
Any suggestions?
Posted by ByronSBell 2007 (Member # 11496) on :
I am big into this kind of stuff, before I was sick my cousin and I were state champs in track together. We were trained by a big time professional runner and we talked abot this kind of stuff.
As you get into better shape your heart will be able to pump more blood per beat so a person that is out of shape usually has a faster heart rate when excercising. Also you can tell an athlete is in shaped when he/she has a slow resting heart rate (below 60bmp)
I would just take it easy and work your way up if possible, I have not been able t excercise really since being sick for 1.5 years but when I feel like it I will try to do some chores around the house that get things flowing like washing a car or getting in a hot tub and sweating/makes heart rate go up, ect.
I hope one day I will be able to do this again... Posted by skimpbiz (Member # 4433) on :
Hey, you and me both! Please feel free to send me a private message!
I ran the 800 meters for my track team in high school as well as the 4 X 800. Now I can't run at all - or I should say my body will allow me to make the physical movement of running but my heart would be beating so fast I'd be putting myself in danger.
Thanks for the reply. Are you suggesting you'd stick with the moderate paced-walk that keeps my heart rate in the target heart rate zone of 140?
Posted by ByronSBell 2007 (Member # 11496) on :
I would not necesarly focus on the heart beat but just try to get some movement and blood flowing in your body, I know sometimes if I get my heart going really fast I will feel horrible! so just be careful...
I have seen some pulse monitors for really cheap $ at athletic stores, maybe I will have my dad pick me up one sometime Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
You can work out at a higher heart rate than that ... 80% of your maximum. If you can talk, while you're exercising, that's a good indication that you are working within your range.
I am a 44 year old woman and when I was healthy a good heart rate for me was 150 bpm. That was high for my age, but I was/am in better shape than most people my age. I could still talk pretty comfortably at that rate.
Now I work out at about 135-145. It doesn't take much to get it that high right now, so I just take it easy. After you get healthier and get back into working out, you will have to work harder to get your heart into the cardio range.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Dr. B's guidelines say you should stay away from cardio exercise when you first start Lyme treatment.
You can do other forms of exercise that don't raise your heart rate as much. I personally do yoga.
I would also recommend you discuss this with the doctor that ran the heart stress test.
Posted by Lisianthus (Member # 6631) on :
I believe exercise is good for us lymies. Bb doesn't do well in an oxygen rich environment. You may herx more when you exercise. But you need to figure out at what point its good for you.
I will bring my heart rate up to about 120 - 140 (while walking on treadmill at an incline) but thats about all I can take. It also depends on your age. (I am 41)
Lisi
Posted by Vanilla (Member # 11155) on :
According to my LLMD you do not want to get your heart rate up because it is not good for your T cells when you have Lyme.
Moderate walking is okay but do not over do or get your heart rate up.
My Tibetan doctor told me to do gentle yoga and deep breathing only and not to push anything.
When I over do is when I start to get sick and end up in bed with a migraine.
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