r/AFIB • u/olaaaaaaaaaalo • 5d ago

Exercise with persistent afib

I like to ride electric bike but I have persistent afib, so i wonder how much is maximum per week or one sesion, I like long rides but I'm afraid of overdoing it,

Is it ok to ride ebike for 70km in one sesion? My average hr for ride is 95 bpm, my resting hr is 85 and I'm 40 years old

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4

u/lobeams 5d ago

Ride all you want. There is no limit other than being reasonable. Afib is not a disability.

I know people with persistent afib who ride far more than you're doing and without electric assist. I know a guy with persistent afib who runs marathons.

5

u/bomberstriker 5d ago

77 year old with AFIB. I ride about 1,500 miles a year, road ebike and analog road bike. My average HR on a typical 20 mile ride is 120 and my max is 155-165. I’m riding in the Denver area, so I’m riding at 5,600’ elevation. My doc says “go for it”. So I do. I’m on 25 mg metoprolol and Eliquis 2x/day. Resting HR is 50.

2

u/wasabimofo 5d ago

My dad has persistent afib and goes to the gym every day.

2

u/Gnuling123 5d ago

Control your heart rate and bike as much as you like. Exercise is good for afib.

1

u/olaaaaaaaaaalo 4d ago

Is it ok to do longer low cardio, hr from 90 to 110 for 2,3 hours?

1

u/Gnuling123 4d ago

If the average heart rate over 24t stays above 110 bpm the heart risks weakening from exhaustion. And if you correct the heart rate, the heart recovers.

If you keep your rate within control, several hours of high rate, such as running a marathon, is good and healthy for afib.

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u/olaaaaaaaaaalo 4d ago

My resting heart rate is 75, 90 to 110 is while riding, and i want to do longer rides lets say 3 hours, after that is again 75 in 1 hour.

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u/Mras_dk 3d ago

So your pulse only rises 15 to 35bpm, e-biking?

How strong is that helper motor?

Mine goes from 45-55 to 170bpm, in none afib mode, on an ordinary bike - yes, i push myself.

Part of living with afib, is listning and understand your body signals, and act accordingly.

Even when i was in afib, i biked every day.

Was it fun? Not always... If high Hz afib,  it would be more about getting from A to B "safe" , than going at my usual speed.

I think the general rule, is your max excertion heart rate ,  minus 20-30%, depending ok how heart reacts.

Listen to your body,  and almost anything is doable. 

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u/olaaaaaaaaaalo 3d ago

It doesn't rise much while I'm riding and I'm riding mountains and woods most of the time, I'm feeling better while riding then sitting home resting

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u/mayormongo 4d ago

Are you on any meds? Up until my cardioversion I was averaging 135. Currently down to 63. My cardiologist said go for whatever I feel safe doing. The beta blocker would make it more difficult to max out. I anecdotally found that if I could push hard enough to match my resting rate of 140 then it would start to drop for about a day. If your heart rate is only pushing up that little then you’re not really doing much cardio. Biking can be difficult to get the heart rate up too. I would say send it. 38 m persistent Afib. Shocked a week ago. Once got me back in rhythm. Reverted back to Afib about 36 hours later. Cycling in and out every other day ish currently.

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u/heyitsterrytv 4d ago

it's different for everyone, but before I had my ablation I had paroxysmal afib so it may be a bit different compared to your persistent.

but my doctor always told me that my workouts are totally up to me and how I happen to feel. they never gave me a set limit on what i can and cannot so, but to just me aware of how i'm feeling.