Scared to train....

[matc]

I used to work in a very physical job and rode (mostly downhill stuff) almost every day up until about 6 years ago when I started suffering from heart palpatations quite badly, mainly after exercise.

It took loads of visits to the doctors and various specialists, until 5 years later I was finally diagnosed with SVT. I was booked in for an operation within a couple of weeks and was lucky enough that they could fix the problem on the first attempt, I was gievn the all clear and apart from the odd twinge I've not had another episode of palpatations at all.

During the diagnosis phase I was given various advice from the people I'd seen, but they mostly told me to not do any vigorous exercise, so the mountain biking stopped and I'd also changed to a desk job (not health related).

So fast forward a year and I'm still pretty much avoiding any strenuous exercise - I bought myself a new bike after the operation as a way of celebrating, but it's sat un-used in the shed at home! Now my heart is beating at a normal rythm I'm starting to gain weight and feeling pretty sluggish!

I think if I'm being completely honest I'm scared to get out and train for the first time, worried that I may force my heart back into having issues. I was told this is very unlikely, but it's something that worrys me; I also used to suffer from exercise enduced asthma so I have the underlying worry that this is aslo going to crop up!

So taking the above into account what's the best way for me to get back into some sort of training? I want to get into shape and start taking care of myself again and also get back to riding, which I used to love.

I was thinking of going to a PT who could keep an eye on my heart rate etc. or is this a bit ott? Perhaps I should jus man-up, get out there and see what happens?

[ewenm]

Start with a bribe - get yourself a new all-singing all-dancing GPS Heart-Rate Monitor watch. Shiny stuff

Then I'd start in the gym on a treadmill/bike and build up slowly, keeping an eye on the HR until I had the confidence to go out and ride again without worrying too much about the heart. The advantage of doing it in the gym is you can stop whenever you like.

Then you can reward yourself with all the new shiny bits you'll need for the bike

[matc]

ewenm said:

Start with a bribe - get yourself a new all-singing all-dancing GPS Heart-Rate Monitor watch. Shiny stuff

Then I'd start in the gym on a treadmill/bike and build up slowly, keeping an eye on the HR until I had the confidence to go out and ride again without worrying too much about the heart. The advantage of doing it in the gym is you can stop whenever you like.

Then you can reward yourself with all the new shiny bits you'll need for the bike

I was considering getting a heart rate watch, any recommendations?

I need to try and find a gym where I can just go in for a session rather than have to sign up for months on end.

I'm sure the minute I ride it I'll get upgradeitis! It's a pretty nice speced carbon Cannondale that I'm longing to go out on, just have this mental block when it actually comes to it!

[Smitters]

I think baby-steps are the way forward. Ride the bike round the block or something - stick close to home and see how you feel. Increase incrementally and as you feel happy to do so until you've gained some confidence in things.