Should I modify the Beginners Template for my return to lifting after CHF?

Not sure if this post should be here or in the Training Forums

Back in June I was hospitalized for a week due to Congestive Heart Failure. I’m 46 yo, overweight and my cardio could be much better. I’ve been cleared for resistance training and cardio, so I’ve started the Beginners Template and walking will have to do for my cardio till I can get something better in the house.

Yesterday I did my first session and boy was it hard. I’d judge the Session RPE to be around a 10 (I couldn’t finish my last set of deadlifts). I expected this type of performance after such a long time away from the gym (last day at the gym was March 2020) and the Doctor did warn me to keep an eye on my intraset rest periods, that my recovery would be affected by the CHF. I was wondering what you would advise. Should I maybe modify the REP (or something) of my programming or should I leaving it as is and take a little longer to do my session to I have more time for recovery between sets and such.

Thanks!

Did they diagnose the specific reason / underlying cause for the heart failure? (If you’d rather not say here, that’s OK too).

If your session RPE was a 10, then this is obviously not sustainable and needs to be modified. Take as long as you need for the rest periods up front; I would not arbitrarily “cap” these in this early stage of your return to training. Regarding the actual programming, I would decrease the overall RPE prescriptions by 1-2 points up front as well, and see how you do. This may be sufficient, or you may find that you need to make further adjustments from there. A consult with one of our coaches may be helpful for more detailed/individualized guidance too.

During an Echo they found a hole in one of the upper chambers of my heart and they told me it’s a hole that everyone has but it usually closes up before birth or something like that. Well, that hole never closed for me and was never found till now. The theory is that the hole is what lead to my A-Fib that was diagnose a couple years ago and the A-Fib lead to the CHF. I’ve had a TEE and they want to do a cardiac catheterization (?) to see if they should close up the hole and if so, how they will do it.

I think I’m gonna keep the programming as is and modify my rest times and keep an eye on the sRPE. Then if need be I can drop the RPE to something like an @6 for all work sets and raise the RPE as my work capacity gets better.

P.S. Thank you so much for the help!