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Hi,
I am 68 in may, and obsessive about fitness. I train most days - Bike and Gym. I am very much into HIT Interval training and I think from your original email we have a lot in common.
An ECG shows an irregular heartbeat and after a "one off" Garmin reading of 245bpm i went to the UK NHS. I am extremely lucky in that I live within a mile of the premier UK cardiac hospital in the uk (world leading). They did an MRI scan amongst other things and show (in common with you) a problem with my Aortic Valve/Root. Its basically enlarged at 46mm in diameter, when normal for my size would be around 36/38mm. Intensive training shows that this is quite common for people who have athletic backgrounds, and train obsessively year in/year out.
The NHS also identified that i have a bicuspid Mitral Valve that occasionally leaks . (Tricuspid is the ideal).
BTW my resting heart-beat is 38 and my upper level is around 160bpm.
I am lucky in that I have raced events in Europe with x pros and one of them is a Heart Surgeon who have Premier League soccer players and some riders from the pro-peloton on his books. He has also won world class cycling events on the track, so is completely tuned into my obsession to enjoy "performance-based" training and cycling.
Lats October in parallel with by NHS program I did an evaluation of my heart with this Heart Surgeon who is also a Consultant for a Sports Medical Practice in the UK. We did a Ramp test (where i confess i held back a little) and that showed the performance of my heart and the ability of my body to process oxygen and different levels of stress (as watts increased over time).
The outcome was a recommendation on how to manage my cycling efforts and weight lifting . EG I now restrict my 5 minute intervals to under 5 mins and under 270 watts (previous i would do around 325/350 for 4/5 mins before backing off. I squat 4 sets of 5 x 60 kilos rather than 1 effort at close to 90 kilos (my body weight is 72 kilo).
My only medication is something called Losartan, which is designed to help with any High Blood Pressure .
I mention all the above to illustrate the benefit I had from going to a specialist Heart Surgeon /Consultant. My training is less performance orientation but my obsession/training please/need continues.
My plan going forward is to maintain my NHS/doctors monitoring but to do a Ramp Test/consulation with the private Heart Surgeon each october. This only costs around £1000UK.
I feel that I have Peace of Mind by going to a Specialist (the Heart Surgeon) who totally understands my drive to train, cycling and my type of train.
My recommendation is to do something similar if you are able.
Finally, i will PM you a letter i got from my Heart Surgeon/Consultant to show you the recommendations re training i got after my Ramp Test (just need to find it lol).
Kind regards
Alan
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