Fitness and health

rosettafaery

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could advise me with taking up a fitness regime with health problems.
To give a brief history - I'm 27, 5ft 2 and 119 lbs, I had a kidney transplant in 2011 and I have a weak left ventricle muscle in my heart (it struggles to push the blood around my body). My blood pressure is 'text book' but my pulse is between 90 and 100.

I asked my kidney consultant about exercise and he just said 'It should help you but dont go overboard'; I asked my heart specialist and he said 'Go for it, just dont do stop start exercises like racket sports'. So I left still feeling unsure of where to start.

I enjoy fun exercise that is dance based, yoga or qigong for relaxations and also like walking and cycling but I'm interested to hear about so many people lifting heavy. I'm a little concerned though as I know using your muscles too hard can release creatine / creatinine and that is one of the main ways the hospital measures how my kidney is doing.

I don't want to overwork my kidney (I've heard doing no more than 45 minutes of exercise a day should be okay) and I don't want to put too much strain on my heart (I've invested in a hrm to keep an eye on it).

I would love to get my heart rate down and to become more toned.

If anyone can offer any advice it would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Nikki

Debbe2

Congratulations for looking into and wanting to begin a fitness routine. Walking and I mean lots of walking is always a great addition to life. It gets your body going and moving. Probably yoga and Pilates would be good as well. Maybe swimming? Can you ask you doctors for recommendations of exercise therapists to work with you since you have some medical issues and are beginning your exercise routine? :flowerforyou:

rosettafaery

Thanks for the suggestions.
I will definitely up the amount I go walking - it is lovely weather here today so I will get out after work.

I have been thinking of getting a personal trainer at my local gym. They can guide me through what I can and can't do and keep an eye on how I am doing.
There are yoga and pilates a couple times a week nearby too. I will try and enroll on those and see how it goes!