Fireaxman
ArboristSite Guru
Had to add a new piece of "Safety Equipment" to my climbing gear. 12 weeks after quadruple bypass surgery I "Graduated" from physical therapy and got clearance from the doctor to resume climbing. But only if I keep my pulse below 155 bpm.
I "Had" to get a heart monitor. But it occurs to me there may be a few more of you out there that might want to consider one. If you smoke, have a genetic history of heart problems, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, too much weight, too much stress, or just too many years maybe one of these would help keep you from over exertion.
I got a "Polar" heart monitor from Target for $50. Its just a watch and a thin chest strap, very light, no problem to wear, and it is very accurate. I checked it out against the more bulky monitors that they were using in Cardiac Rehab and they were in perfect agreement. It "Beeps" whenever I get too close to "Maximum Heart Rate", a rate my doctor and I agreed on. When it beeps, I slow down or rest. It beeps again when my pulse slows down to an acceptable rate so that I can resume my work
Made my first climb post surgery today, dead wooding a 75' red oak. Tie in point was only 50 feet, but I climbed it 3 times just to see how well the rebuilt engine would hold up. Twice SRT, once DdRT.
Didn't do too bad considering I've been laid up so long, but it did surprise me how fast my pulse came up. In rehab I had been doing 20 minutes on a treadmill at 4 degrees, 3.8 mph and staying well below target heart rate of 150 until the last 2 minutes. After the treadmill I was able to complete a 1 hour aerobic workout on various other equipment (stationary bike, steps, etc.) at a moderate rate without stopping.
But when I got to the tree, on SRT I only got 20 feet in 2 minutes before I was at the max. Half that on DdRT. Took me 10 minutes to get to the TIP. Once up, I was able to work comfortably below max heart rate, but all this just reminded me that ours is a particularly strenuous trade (Duhhh!) Well, it kind of quantified the exertion level. In Cardiac Rehab they measure exertion in Metabolic Equivelants (MET) and Time. I "Graduated" when I could maintain an MET of 6 for 20 minutes. What we are doing getting up a tree must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 MET's, and I know some of you must do it 8 to 12 hours a day. Particularly hard on your cardiovascular system in the summer heat (when I first became aware of my problem).
Sorry for the long post, but bottom line is - be careful, don't over do it, especially if you have any of the "Risk Factors" mentioned above. A heart never fully recovers from an attack. I was lucky to catch mine before there was any muscel damage. Its the difference between being able to climb again and being grounded (maybe 6 feet under).
I "Had" to get a heart monitor. But it occurs to me there may be a few more of you out there that might want to consider one. If you smoke, have a genetic history of heart problems, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, too much weight, too much stress, or just too many years maybe one of these would help keep you from over exertion.
I got a "Polar" heart monitor from Target for $50. Its just a watch and a thin chest strap, very light, no problem to wear, and it is very accurate. I checked it out against the more bulky monitors that they were using in Cardiac Rehab and they were in perfect agreement. It "Beeps" whenever I get too close to "Maximum Heart Rate", a rate my doctor and I agreed on. When it beeps, I slow down or rest. It beeps again when my pulse slows down to an acceptable rate so that I can resume my work
Made my first climb post surgery today, dead wooding a 75' red oak. Tie in point was only 50 feet, but I climbed it 3 times just to see how well the rebuilt engine would hold up. Twice SRT, once DdRT.
Didn't do too bad considering I've been laid up so long, but it did surprise me how fast my pulse came up. In rehab I had been doing 20 minutes on a treadmill at 4 degrees, 3.8 mph and staying well below target heart rate of 150 until the last 2 minutes. After the treadmill I was able to complete a 1 hour aerobic workout on various other equipment (stationary bike, steps, etc.) at a moderate rate without stopping.
But when I got to the tree, on SRT I only got 20 feet in 2 minutes before I was at the max. Half that on DdRT. Took me 10 minutes to get to the TIP. Once up, I was able to work comfortably below max heart rate, but all this just reminded me that ours is a particularly strenuous trade (Duhhh!) Well, it kind of quantified the exertion level. In Cardiac Rehab they measure exertion in Metabolic Equivelants (MET) and Time. I "Graduated" when I could maintain an MET of 6 for 20 minutes. What we are doing getting up a tree must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 MET's, and I know some of you must do it 8 to 12 hours a day. Particularly hard on your cardiovascular system in the summer heat (when I first became aware of my problem).
Sorry for the long post, but bottom line is - be careful, don't over do it, especially if you have any of the "Risk Factors" mentioned above. A heart never fully recovers from an attack. I was lucky to catch mine before there was any muscel damage. Its the difference between being able to climb again and being grounded (maybe 6 feet under).
