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Really bad cardiac health result of inactivity

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Bluelighter
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Oct 29, 2012
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1 year and a few months ago... I had a car accident which result in a lumbar fracture. I did rehadaptation for 10 months and since I still have pain in the back but this is another story...
So I have been in a bed for a long time I lost my job because I cant lift heavy weight anymore, I have difficulty to find a new one so I pass most of my days playing video games, doing drugs and watching TV.

I used to be a healty person with good cardio and shape and now my cardio is so bad, I didnt know it could be as bad as that. I try to do exercise but every time I try to do bike, running, swimming, etc, my cardio is so bad that I get sick, sometime I vomit because my heart cant support it. The only thing I can do is walking and even that makes me breathless after a while...

I dont know what to do to get healty again, theres no sport that I can do without getting sick after a few minutes.

I really want to get healty again, what can I do?
 
Hi OP I am so sorry to hear that you are having such a difficult time dealing with your health issue. Have you spoken to a healthcare professional regarding your situation? The only thing I can advice for now is to go to a doctor so that he can assess you and start you up with the proper exercise routine that will be suitable for your condition. Please do this and let us know what the regimen will be. Good luck to you I hope you get it going with the exercise.
 
the same thing kinda happens to me..definitely not as bad as you, but after running for 5 seconds i get faint and dizzy. probably due to the fact i recently went through a period where i was severely under eating, and over exercising, i used to be super in shape, then i stopped exercising for only 2 months and bam now i rarely can get into a good exercise regime.

anyway, i find its best to slow into things as much as possible. I would advise you to seek advice from a cardiac professional since, you have health issues, you wouldnt want to jeoprodize your health trying to exercise. Ask them questions about good exercises to do that are well suited for you body. I cant make up for actual medical advise, but due to my old exercise obsession, I do have some tips and health advice in easing into exercise.

Cardio: The only way to increase cardio health is to keep doing it regularly. Id say in your case, once every two days, due at MOST 15 minutes of cardio. Since you say you get nauseous, try interval training. Do slow jumping jacks until you start getting uncomfortable and notice that you probably should give yourself a break (i mean way before you get to the nauseous point) Then stop, and breathe in and out, in and out. Have some water. Wait a minute (or until your heart rate is back to normal) Repeat the jumping jacks until you get tired again. Take a breathe, breathing in and out, and wait until your heart rate is back to normal, and repeat five times. I usually run in place instead of jumping jacks. I used to be able to run 3 miles, now i can barely deal with one lol.

Also, the thing about cardio, is that it isn't as important as magazines and health tv gurus make it out to be. Yes, it does contribute to weight loss (but your diet contributes more) But OVER cardio training is bad. In fact, you should never do more than 40 minutes of cardio at a time. When you do this, your body starts stressing out and releasing cortisol, etc, and over time your body will burn out. Balance is the key. Weight lifting, is fantastic way to do cardio and strength. Im very weak in the arms, so I can only do at most ten push ups. I recommend doing 5 push ups to see where your level is at.

And if you find yourself sitting down for long periods of time, just get up and stretch. Do some yoga. Im serious, just try to touch your toes, and do some sit down back twists etc, stretch your arms. Another thing that contributes to poor physical health is not keeping your muscles and bones feeling nice. A long day of sitting down will make your back ache and make it harder to get into exercise. For every hour youre sitting down, get up and stretch your legs. I do this at work, I dont care if its weird Id rather not go home feeling tight and lazy. Also siting down for long periods of times makes me tired, I get to the point where i want to sleep. Getting up and giving your body a time to move will give you more energy.

Instead of jumping into a sport just try doing short easy exercises. Due to your current state, doing little spurts here and there will help you condition for the future when your doctor thinks its okay for you to do more intermediate exercises. Id say squats, jumping jacks, push ups, leg raises and any stretch is in safe territory for you. The reason I say this is because I don't know your current medical condition, SO i dont know what will be totally good for you, I am only judging by what you wrote. Don't do anything strenuous, and take baby steps. Many mistakes people make is jumping into fast into anything, which can result in injury.

But I strongly advise you to see your doctor and ask them first, they know your physical health, not me. Those little disclaimers about asking your doctor before starting any exercise is true, especially if you were recently injured. Being inactive for a long time will make it harder to exercise, but I am worried about what you mean when you say really bad. I also advise you avoid any caffeine or stimulants. It will give you energy, but its not good for the heart.

Also of course, diet. The most simplest advice I can give you is minimize fast food, processed foods. Cut out the obvious junk food (sodas, mcdonalds, chips, candy, greasyness, etc) Drink plenty of water. If you cant afford to buy fruits and veggies, try frozen ones, those are totally fine. I think the latin way of eating is both affordable and pretty healthy; rice beans and chicken, with of course vegetables. Buying rice in bulk (prefferably brown rice) and beans will provide you with good protein, and from what I know these run in low prices. My whole life thats what my mom fed me and my family. It also tastes good so you wont be eating boring veggie foods. But of course its difficult to change your diet and it will take time. If you have any questions feel free to ask me.
 
Thank a lot for your post, I going to try some of that before to see my doctor and see how this goes, if even easy exerices are though, Ill have no choice then to ask my doctor for a heart check and some advise.
 
Are you substantially overweight? If not, perhaps walk a little slower and take incremental breaks. Sit on the curb and take 5 every so often, maybe you will get a bit more mileage this way. Quitting cigs should be paramount if you have a habit, if not, awesome. Id second the notion about consulting a doctor for underlying issues if this persists, a human should at least be able to walk a good ways without cardiac distress.

If you are overweight, I have some excellent weight loss tips, you can still eat good food and theres not much exercise. PM me if need be. Please keep us updated on any progress. Have a good night/day my friend.
 
I think it's going to take some time to ease into a workout schedule. Lalune has really good suggestions.

You didn't get this way overnight, so take baby steps. Make sure your doctor checks your heart function before you begin.
 
thank you im glad youre able to see a doctor as not everyone is able to, they might refer you to cardiologist, they will be able to see whats up and help you get on track. sometimes cardiologists make mistakes though, so make sure they run thorough enough tests or at least have plausible reasons as to why you vomit, etc.

also good thing you avoid any heart affecting drugs, as caffiene while it might wake people up, if youre sensitive it will be make you feel faint and nauseous and anxious. it makes me horrible, makes me feel like i need a visit to the er at times, so i avoid it as much as i can. im also very small, so this whole not being able to support myself due to my self damage is horrible. eat enough, feed yourself and while exercise will strengthen your heart, figuring out whats up will help you a lot more. if you have a mental problem with trying to exercise or getting pumped up, i recommend listening to some hard hitting music (fast paced, etc) to get you in the "mode" i have a feeling its multiple factors that make you unable to exercise w/o feeling sick (the accident, long period of no exercise and current sedentary lifestyle) but still, its not normal to feel so bad after exercise since the body was made to support such activities. i wish you the best of health and i hope you are able to run freely without worry. <3
 
Quare, often when people get chronic illness, become depressed, or life becomes inactive and they lead a very inactive routine for a very long time, the body begins to lack physical strength. The body will adapt to any living condition. Laziness will cause muscle to atrophy, and the heart walls to become less flexible because there is no longer a need to increase the flow rate.

If you are really concerned that you've developed a heart problem, then it's worth seeing a doctor. If that turns up nothing, then it means you will have to very gently ease yourself back into a more active lifestyle. Don't push yourself too hard at first. For example, you say that going for walks is strenuous for you... so walking sounds like a good place to start. Begin with short walks, and over time start taking longer walks if you can handle it.

To complement this, make sure you eat healthy foods to get you digestion started up again.

You can re-claim your life but it's going to take some time and patience.
 
I had a back injury about ten years ago. At first I could basically just lay in my bed or walk slowly, sitting was impossible (ok not impossible but very painful). I started going for walks, at first slow and short distance, but when I could I increased either speed or distance. After a few months I was doing about 10km per day at a good pace and my back was almost as good as new. Then I started lifting weights, light weights at first and progressed to heavier ones when I could. Eventually I could lift heavy (400+ pound squats with full range of motion and such) and had no back pain except when sitting in strange positions for long periods of time.
 
Thanks everybody for your tips guys, I already started doing some walking to start slowly, walking is fine but its not very fun. I tried the jumping jacks too, its not too hard and it does more than just walking so I think its going to be a good start. Ill try this for 2 weeks and then if I feel better I might try to do slow jogging.

Ill report back in a bit.
 
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