Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Hammer Throwing, and Novice training

[RobWillmott]

I am a 45 year old, 322 lb, 6’2” Masters Hammer Thrower, who is dealing with HCM.
My doctors have not excluded me from Weight Training or Throwing, not that I would listen to them if they did.

I am taking 3 medications that lower my heart rate and help lower my blood pressure. The side effects for me, compounded with effects of my HCM, to produce easy fatigue and shortness of breath.

My wonder is what possible adjustments could I make to the novice programming to address my condition? Or do I follow along normally and see how the training effects me!?

[Mark Rippetoe]

You have been throwing without a strength program before now? How do you know that this is not a normal athletic heart morphology?

[RobWillmott]

I was a college athlete, who did plenty of lifting at that time. My strength training has had start and stops along the way ever since I graduated in 1999.

My heart condition is genetic in nature according to my specialist doctor. That will not simply go away. Medicine can keep me from having a cardiac failure, and surgery is my best chance of improving my heart function and reduce my symptoms.

My throwing seems to keep me specifically in shape to throw. While I am on week 3 of the novice program, I am not looking for a miracle cure all.

I would like to improve my strength to better perform my hammer throw.

However, my heart condition being what it is, whose side effects of fatigue and shortness of breath/ wheezing, my concern was trying to balance my programming between what is normally prescribed versus an adjustment of frequency to allow more recovery.

If any of this makes sense!?

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I am a 45 year old, 322 lb, 6’2” Masters Hammer Thrower, who is dealing with HCM.
My doctors have not excluded me from Weight Training or Throwing, not that I would listen to them if they did.

Actually, this is a situation where I would listen to my doctor. HCM is no joke, and is strongly correlated with sudden cardiac death. If your doctors are giving you a pass to lift, they're either cray-cray or you have a very mild case without evidence of critical obstruction during diagnostic maneuvers on echo. In other words it sounds like you have non-obstructive HCM rather than obstructive (HOCUM). I suppose you could have the apical variant, but since Willmott is not a particularly Japanese-sounding name I'm inclined to doubt it. All of this of course assumes that you have had an echo, and that one of your doctors is a cardiologist with experience in this condition and its effect on athletes.

You should know that on the one hand classical teaching holds that vigorous exercise in the setting of any HCM is to be discouraged, and on the other hand there is emerging data suggesting that exercise may be beneficial in HCM--said literature being quite incomplete and loaded with caveats. A consultation with Google Scholar will reveal much, including the outstanding questions. Educate yourself.

My wonder is what possible adjustments could I make to the novice programming to address my condition? Or do I follow along normally and see how the training effects me!?

Nobody knows the answer to that. We are talking about an experiment of N=1 here. This sounds to me like an indication for very knowledgeable coaching. If you came to my shop, I would do things thusly:

1. Get a written endorsement from your cardiologist, along with a written summary of your most recent echo.
2. Get a waiver from you.
3. Start you on a vanilla LP with very judicious progression and watch you like a fucking hawk.
4. Proceed as indicated.

Hope this helps.