Prior to the hamstring injury in December I was walking 2-3 miles on days that I hunted as well as 3-4 days a week 30-45 minutes on the spin bike doing a Peloton app workout. Also the kettlebell swings and farmers carries increased my HR. Since then its been what ever walking I can bear which has been very little cardio.
Normally from March until September I would ruck with a 40 or more pound backpack too but I physically can’t do that right now.
Ok. So we need to find something that works for your current physical state.
High impact is clearly out.
Medium to low is going to be better.
Disregard anything else at this point with regard to kettlebells or loaded carries. They are great, and do have a place, but not here or now.
I like the airdyne ( 
), Peleton is interchangeable for these purposes.
Can you manage 20 min. total of walking or stationary bike, individually or combined exercises (walk/peleton) per day, or every other day?
I think I can now start back up steady 80 or so RPM. No intervals on the spin bike.
I was going to talk to the PT tomorrow because on Friday she had me try a leg curl against a pretty light weight resistance band and about at 1/4 of the range of motion I screamed out in pain when it hit a certain point. I had no issues doing bridges on the bench or using a Bosu ball but the leg curls hurt like hell.
Ok. Thats a pretty good clip. I usualy hang at around 50ish rpm. on an airdyne because that seemes to be my sweet spot for conditioning.
If you’re interested, my log is here-
It details some of the ups & downs of the past few years. A couple rounds of cardiac therapy, Things I’ve tried that worked, stuff that didn’t, up to where I’m currently at.
I think we/you have made some good progress today. I don’t want to say or recommend anything that contradicts your PT, so I’m going to drop back for now.
In the mean time, Im gonna hit the airdyne and update my log a little later.
What are you going to do this afternoon/evening?
As a kid I raced bikes. Even now as a fat old guy before the injury peloton tells me I ride faster than 95% of their users while following their resistance settings for the workout.
Nice! I raced a little bit at South Park BMX track and did a lot of dirt & woods in the surrounding Pgh area.
If you can get a good ride in, by all means, do so. Im about to throw the headphones on and get one myself.
Stay dialed in on this and update us here. I’d be interested to hear what goes on with the PT, and it coud help us to stay on top of what works. 
Too funny we have a lot of parallels I raced BMX from 78-85 with most of my racing being 80-83. I had several friends that were factory riders that raced at South park and they all said that was a track I would have liked and done well racing. I was already 6’ and 195 as a Freshman and as I grew in HS I started focusing more on football and wrestling. I did both also at the college level DIII.
Health wise i was reading your post my kids were a little older than yours. I was super fortunate being in Philadelphia for work. I was there for training and everyone went to the bar. I was tired and went to my room and couldn’t fall asleep about 11pm I started deep belching like crazy then had a single crushing pain in the center of my chest and a shooting pain into my left shoulder. I realized it wasn’t gas and should have called 911 from the room but instead got dressed went down the elevator and walked to the front desk. I told the woman working there I needed to go to the hospital I had chest pains. She calls over the security guard and I tell him what happened. He asks if I am having a heart attack. I told him I have no idea but something is wrong.
He calls the EMT’s and they are there in probably not more than 2 minutes. As they are pulling out the stretcher for me I walk up and tell them I will just climb in. They were both smaller like 5’7 and about 160. The smaller one looks up at me and goes oh thank you! It turned out Hanneman Hospital was literally around the block and I was there probably less than 10 minutes from the time I walked out of my room.
It couldn’t have gone better because I found out later that hospital was the top rated cardiac care unit in the NE and rated top 25 in the world. Even better the head of cardiology was there for another patient.
In the operating room I apparently was breathing like my wife in Lamas and my leg was shaking while I had my eyes closed. All of a sudden I hear some one telling me I need to sit still and tough it out while they put the catheter in my carotid artery. I then hear some one yell sit still or you are going to F this up! i open my eyes and see someone’s face not more than 6 inches from mine. I was never so scared in my life. The last thing I remember was grabbing the side of the table and then being rolled into and elevator to take me to recovery. They told me my wife and kids were on the way from the Jersey shore and I was going to survive.
It’s amazing how differently this can happen to each person. There was a guy in my room who had been there two weeks. I went in at almost midnight Tuesday and was released Friday morning and able to see my son and his Girlfriend go to prom.
Three weeks later the cardiologist told me that if he didn’t know my recent history he would call my heart normal and the little bit of damage I did would heal within the next month or two.
Since then I celebrate my heart attack as a new birthday and will be 14 on May 18th. Before the construction accident I would usually do about a 50 mile bike ride. After the construction accident it has been a 5 plus mile ruck usually with 75lbs on my back and a reminder post to myself and my friends to never take anything for granted because you don’t know if you will be here tomorrow.
Its a downhill track, an sooo so fast. They’ve done everything they can to slow it down in the past 20 years or so, but gravity always wins.
My heart attack started while I was sleeping. I woke up at 4:02 am and it was full on. I was really fortunate too, to receive almost immediate attention.
Scary as hell!
I just keep whacking away at it to do what I can with what I have. For the past while I had some pretty serious breathing problems, but they’re cleared up for the most part, and I’m back into the Onward & Upward mode.
Slowly & steadily.
Ok. Thats a pretty good clip. I usualy hang at around 50ish rpm. on an airdyne because that seemes to be my sweet spot for conditioning.
At therapy this morning my PT said I can start doing the spin bike and with questions about my impingements also suggested if I can to try and shoot archery lefty instead of righty.
I spoke to a buddy of mine who was one of the best right handed target shooters in the country who due to I believe it was a rotator cuff injury switched last year to shoot lefty. I asked him what he would suggest and he said start with stretch bands and in a few weeks he will lend a light weight drawing lefty bow he started with.
That’s awesome!
Just yesterday I was thinking of you, messing around with a band, pulling like left handed draw string motion.
I was surprised how weak my right arm was at holding out straight.
Good luck with the left hand stuff!
It’s amazing how uncoordinated your nondominat side is at first. My youngest son is right handed but left eye dominant and has always shot a bow lefty. For him it was easy because he started shooting at age 4.
I have been shooting a bow for over 40 years. The few times I have drawn a bow lefty to show someone that is new to archery was a nightmare because I was doing it wrong and awkward AF!
This is both fun and scary at the same time! 
Kind of excited. Last night I used a lefty bow for the first time to shoot and surprised myself with while not good accuracy better than I expected. Then this morning in PT the exercise that had me scream out in pain on Friday I was able to do today pain free and with much higher resistance. Then we added the exercise bike in and with a low steady resistance I had no pain and was able to do it at an average 85 rpm over my last 15 minutes of PT. My therapist gave me the go ahead to use my spin bike as much as I want and is going to add resistance band exercises for at home.
I am truly shocked how much better I feel in such a short amount of time after being in near constant pain for more than a month with no improvement at home.
As far as my weight I assume I am retaining water because I gained almost 6 pounds in the last few days but even though I can’t see any real difference in the mirror other than my arms and shoulders seem to look bigger and more defined my belt has to be taken in more than it has by over an inch. So progress is being made.
I definitely was retaining water. Yesterday I weighed just under 286. Today I weighed 279 the same as my first post but I see more definition in my arms and shoulders and my belt is one hole tighter than a week ago. At home today did 30 minutes on my spin bike with about 30% resistance and an average 82 RPM and a little over 12 miles. No pain and my leg feels great. I also did a dumbell upper body workout.
Gonna take a picture once a week and monitor that way too.
Just had my first check up with my urologist since going back on Testosterone. Overall he said he is happy with the lab results but said the hematocrit was something to watch with it at just under 53.
I asked about taking a smaller dose 2x a week because of my suddenly high BP two years ago when I was on TRT last. He said he didn’t believe in it but when I told him that the script said 200ml every two weeks and I was 100ml 1x a week before and still had the blood pressure issue he said on the next refill will change it to 100ml a week. I asked about testing the shbg and estrogen specifically and said if I felt better than before I started then there is no need to test it. That seems off to me. I told him about my water retention and is going to have me have blood tests this week. I have had it 3x where I gained 9 pounds and 6 pounds in a couple of days. This weekend I gained 11 since Friday. I know I had two bad meals and about 6 beers but that seems excessive. My son came home from a 6 month deployment in the Navy Saturday and we were out for most of the afternoon at the airport due to bad weather so when we got home we ordered Chinese food. I usually have it maybe a few times a year and then yesterday morning we were back at the airport picking up our other son at 4 am. We haven’t had all the kids together in 2 years and celebrated yesterday by having our St Paddy’s Day with corned beef and Guinness beer.
What blood tests are typical for someone on TRT? I know my cardiologist will have it added on my next check up if I request. I mentioned my low T to my PT I am being treated for and she said the low T may be a contributing factor to my pulled muscles.
Looking forward to others experiences.
Steady state cardio, as you’ve been doing is awesome for getting the heart pumping and creating a series of physiological responses equivalent to an ACE inhibitor, and purging excess fluid.
But, those weight fluctuations and their duration, in conjunction with some previous history we’ve discussed, are concerning.
Do you take a diuretic?
Whenever I have had water retention I have found that if I make sure I drink a full 2 gallons of water like the Dr. that put the stent in me said I should do everyday I pee it all out quickly. The Urologist said he could prescribe a water pill but doesn’t like to unless absolutely necessary and that’s when I told him about the 2 gallons of water. The main issue with that is I will have to go pee about every 15 minutes and I can’t do that if I have meetings that day.
My PT this morning gave me permission to do leg extensions and curls but wants me to hold off on the kettlebell swings and squats for now. Very happy about being able to work the whole body! On my off days I am going to walk a mile or so if my hammy allows it. She stretched my hamstrings by having me lay on my back and putting my heel just above her shoulder while she stretched it towards my head and she was surprised at the range of motion I had. 
Oh, I’m familiar with that dance!
I take 40 mg. of lasix daily. In the mornings when I can, afternoons if I can’t.
I’d recommend talking to your cardiologist about that. Sudden weight gain is a red flag, even if you kinda know why (high sodium intake). Thats a lot of extra fluid to pump.
LOL about the dance! The Urologist said don’t bother checking my BP on the days I know I am retaining water because my BP is going to be high.
I will talk to my cardiologist later this week.
Damn!
Just because its high and you know its high doesn’t ameliorate the effect of it being high, nor does it indicate HOW high!
Thats a good idea.
Still haven’t seen my cardiologist. He’s been on vacation. I will in a couple weeks.
Good news is my PT has had me doing at home my full body exercises and encouraged me to bench which I was afraid to do because benching, flys and pushups were what have in the past set off my impingement. So far so good.
I gained a few pounds with my son home from the Navy we went out several times and then it was a guys weekend at an archery rendezvous to support our USA Archery team. Between the two I gained 10 pounds but have since Monday lost 5 of it. Back on track.
The funny thing is I weigh more but my pants are looser and I am seeing an increase in musculature in my arms, shoulders and even my pecs.
