Lifting with a dilated ascending aorta

[Martin Shenfield]

I don't think you can do anything that will be of benefit to you strength-wise without a degree of straining.

You will have to quit any form of training and just do exercise. Maybe Pilates.

Don't do any yard work either.

[Jdcuth]

I did pay for them. A coronary CT scan is about $150, and used to measure if you have calcium in your vessels. I heard about it from a podcast, advocating that anyone over 40 should get one done.

I'm thankful I proactively did this because it showed a slightly dilated aorta and not yet a full blown aneurysm. So therefore, I can hopefully make lifestyle adjustments to stop it from growing. Once a dilation turns to an aneurysm you need open heart surgery to replace that part of the aorta with a man made tube. If it's in your descending aorta, you may be eligible for a stent. They call aortic aneurysms the silent killer or ticking time bombs, because quite often you have zero symptoms until it dissects or ruptures.

My doctors are not telling me to "stay on the couch" and are encouraging exercise, just modifying the way I do it. They even described a study involving mice with aneurysms. The ones that were allowed to go on the wheel had better outcomes than the sedentary ones.

Is there any evidence that strength training (or if we are more specific the SS method) increases risk from a slightly dilated aorta to an aneurysm (I can answer that - there definitely isn’t) and mice models are irrelevant because their cardiac and vascular physiology is totally different. The issue is properly performed strength training has innumerable other benefits related to aging (read the Barbell Prescription) such that excluding it needs properly justifying. And I know doctors are loathe to say ANYTHING is safe because if our name is put to that advice, we’re liable. It’s interesting that doctors will advise long slow distance when this seems to me to contribute to sarcopenia and joint injuries and frailness but has a better reputation than those grunty deadlifts and squats done by hairy men in singlets. This is despite the startling reversals to the sick aging phenotype and frailty we see videos of on the SS website on a regular basis. I just feel it’s worth you hearing this to make an informed decision.