November 12, 2024 • 38 mins
Ever thought you could lead an exhilarating life despite a congenital heart defect? Meet Ben Johnson, a formidable heart warrior born with tetralogy of Fallot. Tune in as Ben, now 45, recounts his spirited childhood and how his heart condition didn't stop him from being a vibrant, active child. From hospital memories to a loving family and supportive teachers, Ben's story is a testament to resilience and the power of a strong support system. He takes us through his childhood escapades, proving that with the right mindset and community, a heart defect doesn't have to define your limits.
Our conversation with Ben reveals the intricate journey of living with congenital heart defects, focusing on the visible reminders, including his scars and tattoos, and their role in shaping his life narrative. Delve into Ben's fitness journey where he embraces an active lifestyle with weightlifting, debunking common myths about limitations for heart patients. With the guidance of a personal trainer and self-monitoring, Ben exemplifies how managing health proactively can lead to a robust and fulfilling life, inspiring others with heart conditions to pursue their ambitions confidently.
The episode doesn't just stop at physical well-being. We explore the significant link between exercise and mental health, sharing personal triumphs over post-surgical discomfort and the incredible benefits of targeted workouts. From stretching and strengthening exercises to the profound impact of endorphins, discover how maintaining an active routine can elevate mood and reduce anxiety. Encouraging inclusivity in physical activities, we stress that everyone, irrespective of physical limitations, can find joy and freedom in movement. Join us in fostering a community of heart warriors, advocating for empowerment, and cherishing each milestone along our shared journeys.
Ben Johnson's contact information: https://tinyurl.com/y9yw53nj
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heart-to-heart-with-anna--1256958/support.
Our conversation with Ben reveals the intricate journey of living with congenital heart defects, focusing on the visible reminders, including his scars and tattoos, and their role in shaping his life narrative. Delve into Ben's fitness journey where he embraces an active lifestyle with weightlifting, debunking common myths about limitations for heart patients. With the guidance of a personal trainer and self-monitoring, Ben exemplifies how managing health proactively can lead to a robust and fulfilling life, inspiring others with heart conditions to pursue their ambitions confidently.
The episode doesn't just stop at physical well-being. We explore the significant link between exercise and mental health, sharing personal triumphs over post-surgical discomfort and the incredible benefits of targeted workouts. From stretching and strengthening exercises to the profound impact of endorphins, discover how maintaining an active routine can elevate mood and reduce anxiety. Encouraging inclusivity in physical activities, we stress that everyone, irrespective of physical limitations, can find joy and freedom in movement. Join us in fostering a community of heart warriors, advocating for empowerment, and cherishing each milestone along our shared journeys.
Ben Johnson's contact information: https://tinyurl.com/y9yw53nj
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heart-to-heart-with-anna--1256958/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Anyone interested in getting started in a workout program, I
recommend start where I did, which was just a few
days a week mostly body weight exercises, and then over
time that intensity compounds.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Heart to Heart with Eanna. I am Anna
Dorsky and your host all also a heartman to an
adult who was born with a single vidrical heart and
is thirty years old that series, and I'm the host
of be a BROCN. Today's guest is Ben Johnson and
I know I said a little friendly storry friends. I
am recovery of laryngitis. But Ben is awesome and he's
(00:39):
going to help me with this show today. Ben is
a forty five year old SPHD survivor who was born
with a trilogy of the life. He said, one corrective
surgery at four years of age in heighteen eighty three
and he's been living the healthy lifestyle. Emerson Tamer, he
rends his own tax hitting and jog walking racists Wisconsin
(01:01):
where he grew up. That has a degree a music
education in the university's consent my father and enjoy sifting
weights and working out the Welcome to Heart.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
To Hearts, Thank you, Anna, I'm very happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm so happy to have you on the program, and
I understand it. You're first and only corrective surgery was
at the age of four, so I'm wondering what memories
of that time in your life do you have.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yes, I honestly don't remember a ton about my life
around my surgery time, being only four years old. I
have little pictures in my mind of things happening. I
remember waking up in the hospital with electrodes and tubes
attached to me, and being fairly scared and asking for
my parents. I also remember my mom telling me to
(01:54):
take it easy shortly after my surgery, after I had
gotten back home. I know that that I used to
like to ride my big wheel and my bike with
friends around the neighborhood, So I don't know if she
was telling me to calm down because of my surgery
or if I was just being a general crazy four
year old on a big wheel.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I love it. I could just imagine you on your
big wheel, so it mustn't have heard too much if
you were out there on a big wheel.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah, I don't remember being out of breath. I do
have a memory of wearing a ultra monitor. I don't
remember if it was right after my surgery or like
a six months after to check in on things. But
at the time, it was like a tape recorder in
a big backpack, and I remember walking around with that thing,
and then I remember taking a tape out because you
(02:41):
had maybe ninety minutes or on a side, so you
had to take it out and replace it with a
new cassette tape. I remember it came on school, so
my dad spent like an hour winding the tape with
a pencil. Luckily, those things have gotten so much smaller
and easier to live with. I really don't remember my
surgery impacting my activity and what I did on a
regular basis at the time.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's good, and at four, I wouldn't expect you to.
I don't remember much from when I was four, except
I had a baby's sister, and I remember helping my
mother when she was changing the baby's diaper, ending her
the petroleum jelly, handing her the little safety pins for
the diapers, and playing paddy Cake with my baby sister.
(03:25):
But that's it, and we're so much older now.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That was a long time ago, right, Yeah, I have
like little flashes, and honestly, don't know what they were
from that time in my life or it was later.
But yeah, it's hard to remember what I did four
hours ago, much less forty one years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I love it. I love it. So after your surgery,
it sounds like you had a new lease on life.
You were back on your bike.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Did you have siblings growing up?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I did. I have two younger brothers, although my youngest
brother is quite a bit younger than I am, so
really growing up, I had a brother that was three
years younger than me.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Okay, so he only would have been a baby when
you had that surgery, so it's not like you were
running around with him.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
No, he stayed with some relatives. I think my grab
and grandpa here in Wisconsin, and I had the surgery
in New York, so he was with them for a
couple of weeks so my parents could focus on me.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh wow, that's good that you had that kind of
support system. And he rob it doesn't remember anything because
he was just an Apan.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
He doesn't. He'll say that being away from my parents
for that time started for life. But he's just messing
with me.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Hell bit, when you were a little bit older, say
when he was five and you were eight, Do you
remember running around rough housling with your brother, doing the
things that brothers do.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Absolutely, I really don't remember any time where I couldn't
play and run around and explore with him or with
the other friends around the neighborhood that were my age.
I really can't remember my heart conditions slowing me down
too much. I remember in early elementary school, teachers would
sometimes check in to see how I was doing, and
(05:14):
at the time I'm like, I'm fine, Well it's a problem,
but obviously they were chucking me in, so my parents
had communicated my heart situation with them.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Plus, imagine, if you wore a shirt the head of
ev Nek, part of your scar could be seen. Yeh, absolutely,
and you wouldn't be looking at it, but other people
would see it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Easy to forget that I have that, even though when
I look in the mirror, I can have weeks go
by where I don't even notice it, and then I'm like, oh, yeah,
I got that scar thing.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I know. I broke my arm and I'm seven. I
am a massive scar on my elbow. I almost never
think of it, right, It's just part of who you are,
but exactly it would dwell on it all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I think that would be a bit obsessed, definitely, And
I don't know that too many people even notice it.
I do have some tattoos on my chest, so people
usually ask about those and notice those before the scar.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Interesting. So your doctor was okay with you getting tattoos.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, I didn't really talk to him about it. I
probably should have. Fun I got him and you didn't
say anything afterwards, and they're fairly obvious.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
But yeah, I mean, when you're doing a chess examination,
if you tattoo on your chest, we're going to see it.
That is really fun. So you didn't ask you doctors
permission or for any safeguards or anything. You just went
and did it just like any other person would do.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Right, exactly. It really didn't occur to me. I just
made sure I went to a reputable tattoo parlor that
had clean equipment and a good recommendation.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Am If I asked how old you were and you
got your first tattoo or.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
See my first tattoo, I was probably about thirty four
thirty five.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh so this wasn't a teenage thing.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, I was much older.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yep, Okay, what concerns did you and your family have
regarding your heart to effect as you were a child
growing up.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The surgeon that I had didn't remove as much muscle
tissue as mistraditionally done in tetrology of flow surgery. I'm
not sure why. It was kind of a method that
he pioneered at the time. So one of the concerns
that I've always had because I had more muscle tissue
right ventricular hypertrophy, which ultimately could lead to pressure issues
(07:37):
and pressure and balance than my heart which might require
a second surgery down the road. I'm in the wait
and see every year mode, still at forty five, so
I'm happy for that. But when I first moved back
to Wisconsin when I was seven, the new cardiologist I
had was pretty concerned about it. He initially thought that
surgery would be needed much sooner red than later, but
(08:00):
after the catheterization, came to the agreement that we see
what the changes were over time. That was probably the
only time where I remember having a conversation with my parents,
and I was only seven, but I remember them talking
about if they'd seek a second opinion if that cardiologist
recommended a surgery at the time, and ultimately that didn't happen,
(08:21):
and I've been stable since, but that's really the only
time I can remember having a major concern about it.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Heart to Heart with Anna is a presentation of Hearts
Unite the Globe and as part of the hug podcast network.
Hearts Unite the Globe is a nonprofit organization devoted to
providing resources to the congenital heart defect community to uplift, empower,
and enrich the lives of our community members. If you
would like access to free resources pretending to the PhD community,
(08:54):
please visit our website at Wwwcongenitalheartdefects dot com. An information
about HD, the hospitals that treat children with PhD, summer
camps for HD survivors, and much much more.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Then when did you first decide to work out and
lift weights? Because I know a lot of people who
are critical because you had heart patients are told they
can't lift weights, or if they do, it can only
be very small weights. They can't do bodybuilding.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I started on and off when I was in college
in my mid twenties through mid thirties. I'd work out
for a few months and then i'd stop for a
few months, and it was not very focused. I did
not talk to my cardiologists at the time about it.
I had a pediatric cardiologist through my mid thirties, when
he retired and I went to an adult congenital clinic,
(09:48):
so he always felt that I was staying in good
shape and encouraged continuing to be active, but didn't necessarily
recommend lifting and lifting heavy weights. A few years ago,
I actually at the beginning of COVID, I started working
with the trader and that's when I really got serious
about lifting and gradually building up to lifting heavier weights.
(10:10):
And a few years ago my cardiologist asked me what
my routine was, and I told him, and he said, hmm,
if you came in and asked me if I suggested
doing that routine, I would probably say no, But I
can't really argue with the results.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So it was Yeah, from a cardiac standpoint, he felt
that your heart was doing well and you weren't doing
anything to damage it.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, you really didn't have any concerns over my heart
function or lifting too heavy or pushing things too hard.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Wow, Now, is the personal trainer that you're working with
somebody who has worked with other people with heart conditions.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
No, he is not he's based in Brooklyn. I followed
him and his brother for quite a while. They do
a lot on social media in the Kalisthenics movement and
have written an number of books, so I read and
kept in touch with them, and then they both went
to virtual training when COVID started because all the gyms
were closed down, so that's when I started working with him.
(11:10):
He's obviously well aware of my heart condition and depends
on me to speak up if there's anything that I
have concerns about regarding my heart.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Have you noticed any that in pains or anything amiss
when you do the lifting? Because I know, I talked
to one gentleman. It's much older than you, but also
a tetralogy and philippation as a matter of fact. Oh
and she, yeah, she is cool now that I think about.
And Jim one time lifted a canoe over his head
(11:43):
and when he lifted the canoe he felt a plot
and a sternam wire busted through his chest. Oh jeeves,
can you imagine an He wrote to the er and
they called doctor Marco, He's doctor. The doctor came over
and he snipped the wire, buff and send him away
(12:05):
with a bill. He wasn't happy with the bill that
he caught, as I recall, which is kind of funny
because all he did was take some tool and just
snip the metal off. But I would be really concerned
I fall zi. Yeah, death wire fixed very much us.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Luckily, I've never had any wires pop out, thankfully, or
any injuries. I've had soreness and other getting banged up
a little bit from various lifts and things like that,
but nothing directly heart related.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Right, So, just the normal aches and pains that any
human being has when they push themselves physically. Right, Let's
hope that never happens to you. I've never heard of
that happening to anybody else. Yeah, But the interesting thing
is my heart Warrior told me that when she was
a teenager she was going through puberty, that sometimes her
(13:00):
chest would hurt, and I wondered if it had something
to do with the cerno mares. And when I contacted
the cardiologist, he said it was probably growing pains and
kids go through that sometimes. Then there was nothing wrong
with her heart, and after a while it did go away.
Did you ever experience anything like that when you were
(13:21):
growing up?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I did.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Around my chest, I had really bad growing pains in
my legs, so that kind of yeah, anything else, but yeah,
I mean it makes sense if you think that there's
scar tissue right there is trauma to the chest area,
so as any bones, muscles, connective tissue are growing, it's
going to be a little bit more sensitive there than
(13:45):
anywhere else. It's scary when you have a heart condition
and an area in your chest is hurting, But it
does make total sense that the trauma from the surgery
would certainly affect how you're and muscles feel that you're growing.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Oh my goodness, which you just said about having the
aches in your legs too. Hope also had that, And
now that I think about it, you guys have catterizations,
but you have scar tissue in your legs as well,
right in your growing area, So I wonder if that
contributes to the pain and the legs as well. I
never thought about that until you just said that. Amazing.
(14:25):
I've talked to other art warriors as well who tell
me the same thing that they also had growing pains,
but they're growing pains. Any kid that goes through growing pains.
But I think when you are dealing with living with
a chronic condition like general heart disease, you're always questioning
is this something to do with the heart? Is this
(14:45):
something I need to be worried about?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I still do with If I have too much caffeine
and my heart speeds up a little bit, my first
thought as always, oh, what's going on there? And then like, well,
I had two more cups of coffee than I normally have,
so that's probably it.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Absolutely, And my husband, who does not have a cogenital
heart effect, is really sensitive to caffeine. We've warned Hope
watch out. Dad's super affected by caffeine as am I.
I usually drink herbal tea. I've never been a coffee drinker,
and that is something that she notices. When she drinks
SODA's it tends to be caffeine free like seven up
(15:24):
or Pier, but she tries not to drink too much soda.
And that's my next question. You've gone on a health
kick where you have made dietary change is to boost
your exercise regime. Can you talk to me a little
bit about that?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Absolutely? First, I love that you praise that as what
dietary changes did you make to boost the effectiveness of
the routine. So many people when they think of diet
they think of restriction taking away losing weight, which is understandable.
We have obviously weight concerns in this country and around
(16:04):
the world, but so many people often think, I need
to lose weight, I need to get fit, I need
to get in shape. What do I need to take
out of my diet? But I think thinking about your
diet as what do you need to put in to
fuel your lifestyle is so much better way to look
at it. Psychologically, It's rewarding rather than punitive. When I
(16:25):
started getting on this, I focused on making sure I
have lean protein with every meal, fresh fruits multiple times
a day, rawn, steamed vegetables. I try to limit packaged foods,
check labels if there's something that has a name that
I can't pronounce or I can't picture in the wild,
like I can picture blueberries, and I can even picture
(16:47):
honey as a sugar substitute, but I can't picture sodium bicarbonate.
If somebody asked me what that look like, I wouldn't
be able to do that. Generally, the more ingredients usually
the worst, but I make sure that I'm getting those fruits,
those veggies, lean protein, eating plenty of nuts and seeds
which have a lot of healthy fats to them. I
(17:08):
also have a repetitive diet. I think people who generally
are fit or who are athletes will generally eat the
same types of things day in and day out, and
it helps figure out what your body needs, what your
body reacts to. I found personally that eating a lot
of high grain carbs, eating a lot of bread, pasta,
(17:30):
cereal that leads to inflammation. I feel more sore after workouts.
My elbows and shoulders tend to be a little bit
more sore, I feel a little bit sluggish. I think
it exacerbates my allergies and sinuses. So I pretty much
eliminate grain based carbs for that reason. But by making
(17:52):
sure I'm getting enough protein, enough vitamins, and enough minerals
on a daily basis and using that as my baseline,
then I can add to that and see how it
affects me. And if there's something like caffeine, generally I
can drink a lot of coffee and it doesn't really
affect me, where some people can look at a cup
of coffee and their heart rate goes up. But for me,
(18:13):
grains and pastas and cereals they don't make me feel well. Yeah,
that's the base level of nutrition. And then if I'm
going through a phase where I'm lifting heavy and trying
to add on muscle, I'll eat more calories. I'll be
a little bit less conscious of whether the protein I
have is quite as lean. I might have more fat
(18:34):
and definitely more treats and stuff of that nature. And
then when I'm trying to lean out or lose a
little bit of weight, I'll dial back. I'll pretty much
eliminate those grain based carbs, try to eat leaner proteins
and limit rice, potatoes, beans and nuts a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Wow, it sounds like a low carb diet is something
that you favor.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
It is, But I do eat fruit as much as
I want, which is usually four or five servings a
day with every meal.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Same thing with vegetables, salads, carrots, snat peas, steamed veggies
with dinner every night. Okay, So you.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Can eat your carrots and potatoes and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Yeah, the potatoes, some people don't do as well on those.
They don't seem to impact my blood sugar too much.
I feel pretty good when I eat those. I do
eat rice, potatoes and a lot of fruits.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
And vegetables Okay Cool embark on a heartwarming odyssey with
Baby Hearts Pressure gateway to uplifting stories for the c
HD community. Introducing the Heart of a Heart Warrior book
series inspiring those born with heart effects and their loved ones.
Discover the heart of a mother, the heart of her father,
(19:50):
and my brother needs an operation. Books celebrating strength, love
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be part of our loving community uplifting hearts one story
at a time. This content is not intended to be
a substitute for a professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
The opinions expressed in the podcast are not those of
(20:13):
Heart to Unite the Globe, but of the hosts and guests,
and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to
congenital heart disease or bereavement.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You are listening to Heart to Heart with Anna. If
you have a question or comment that you would like
to addressed on our show, please send an email to
Anna Jaworski at Anna at Heart to Heartwanna dot com.
That's Anna at Heart to Heart with Anna dot com.
Now back to Heart to Heart with Anna.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
You mentioned that your workouts can help with nick and
shoulder pain as well as postural issues. And these are
issues that a lot of Heart warriors I've talked to
I've had to deal with, probably because they had to
spend hours on an operating and they're not in a
normal position. I have their sternum packed open and their
(21:07):
ribs are splayed apart. So I know quite a few
our warriors who have had to deal with scoliosis and
other problems. Do you think that your workouts or dumb
guided workout could help people who are dealing with those
kinds of issues, And if so, can you tell us
where they could learn more?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Absolutely, this is something that I'm very passionate about. I'm
not going to say that it'll fix scoliosis. That's a
medical problem. People should talk to their doctors, obviously, But
I dealt with pretty severe neck pain. I was doing
some yard work in my early twenties and I pulled
one of my trapezius muscles just under my right shoulder,
(21:48):
and as soon as I did that, everything kind of
seized up around it. I couldn't lift my head up,
I couldn't move it left and right. So I went
to a physical therapist. I had some pain meds muscle relax.
I did six weeks of physical therapy where we did
massage in the area and then a lot of stretching
for the injured area, and I recovered. Then about six
(22:11):
months later, I think I was carrying some dining chairs
upstairs and I did the same thing, went through physical
therapy again, and I dealt with it probably for about
eight years or so, where it was like every six
months to a year, I would do something and it
wasn't anything crazy. It was basic mowing the lawn or
basic life skills and constantly pulling it. It was the
(22:33):
point where I couldn't lift my head up, I couldn't
move my neck. I kept going to therapy, and I
just knew that there had to be something more there.
So I started to do a lot of research on
my own and look at some different weightlifting programs. It
started to make sense to me that because of my
heart condition and having surgery when I was really young,
(22:53):
before my bones and muscles and connective tissue were even
close to being fully developed, my chest cracked open. I
still have scar tissue and realize not only do I
have scar tissue on the outside of my body, that
I can see, but there's scar tissue underneath too, on
my heart all the way down my sternum, so it
makes sense that I would be tighter in the chest area.
(23:17):
And then, like everybody nowadays, spend so much time in
front of your phone or in front of a computer
that it just reinforces that forward hunched head posture, forward shoulders.
So I did a lot of research and found that
there were three areas that I needed to focus on,
and once I did that for about four months, I
haven't had a single issue now for maybe fifteen twenty years.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It completely completely resolved that. So the first thing I did,
and I still do these exercises just about every day,
so it's not something that you fix and you're done,
because the scar tissue is always there. The first thing
I do is I make sure to stretch my in
the front of my shoulders, my interior shoulders, doing like
Peck stretches against a doorway, stretching against a pole, just
(24:08):
to kind of open that area up. The chest muscles
get tight and shortened, which limits your range of motion,
and then because of that, if you don't stretch it,
it's pulling on your back muscles, which is where my
injury came from, and every time I went to physical therapy,
they focused on stretching my back muscles. But problem is
(24:28):
those muscles were already stretched out and like a rubber band,
can only stretch so much before it's naps. So instead
of stretching the back, I focused on strengthening the back,
doing a lot of rows, some dumbel flies, wall slides, ytw's,
and l's on an exercise ball to build up those
(24:49):
postura muscles in the upper back at the same time
stretching the front and restoring range of motion and normal
posture to my shoulders. Then the third thing is I
do a lot of cell masside with my fingers on
my scar tissue. I got a thera gun which I
used to massage with the front of my shoulders and
my chest just to relieve that tightness and that soreness.
(25:12):
I'm planning to make some videos post on your YouTube
page that show some of these stretches and exercises. I'll
hopefully have those ready to go in the next week
or so. If anybody has any question, I'd be more
happy to coach them through that.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
That's amazing you did not talk about the kind of
exercises I would have expected. But now that you've explained it,
it makes perfect sense. What led you to figure out
that these were the exercises you needed to do? Going
to physical therapy multiple times? Is that where you figured
if I keep doing this, I feel better? Or is
(25:50):
there some other way that you found out that these
are the exercises she needed?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
No, it was kind of the opposite, where I felt
like the physical therapy helped and I feel better. But
a few months later the same thing happened. So I
did a lot of searching on some different strength programs,
specifically that addressed postural issues and muscle and balances. So
that's where I started. I do these as warm up
exercises and cool down stretches every day around my more
(26:18):
traditional full body lifting program, but I still make sure
to do these exercises, and then I also try to
make sure I incorporate more pulling than pushing, more rows,
more upper bank work than I do, chess exercises, bench press,
and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
How much time every day do you spend exercising About
an hour five days a week usually wow, five days
a week, Wow. I saw a lot of weight lifting.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
To be clear, this is about four years of gradual
increases in the frequency that I work out, the length
of time I work out, the weight I'm lifting, and
the exercises I'm doing. Anyone interested in getting started in
a workout program, I recommend start where I did, which
was just a few days a week mostly body weight exercises,
(27:11):
and then over time that intensity compounds to where you
can work out multiple days a week without getting too
sore and getting too rundown. But it's not like I
just one day woke up and said, Hey, I'm going
to work out five times this week. It was a
long slope.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, you'd be in bed with then tubla bays. It
would be hard to keep that up. So one of
the things my husband and I are looking into, and
I really want to do it. I just need to
be stricter with myself with my time is tai chi.
I don't know if you've ever done that before, but
that's a beautiful way to start stretching gently wake your
(27:52):
muscles up before you do an exercise regime. Have you
ever tried tai chi or yoga?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I haven't tried tightchi. I do yoga. A lot of
the stretches that I do are from yoga practices, but
I do have some friends that do taichi, and it's
great for oiling your joints. It's great getting that fluid
going through your body, warming up your muscles, stretching your muscles, tightchi. Really,
(28:19):
any type of martial art is phenomenal for strength and
recovery and muscle building, stretching and everything.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Let's talk about the importance of working out and how
that affects your mood, because there's been a ton of
research now that shows that there's a connection between working
out and your mood and your mental health. That seems
to be something that's a big issue in our community.
Can you talk to me about the importance of working
out to exercise our mental health.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Absolutely. I've dealt with anxiety for as long as I
can remember, and along with working out, I do some
daily meditation. I've gotten really big into stoic philosophy, which
has helped put things into perspective. But I do notice
if I'm not feeling great, or if I tweak something
during the workout and I decide to take a couple
(29:13):
of days off, usually the first and second day off
from working out, It's like, oh, this is so nice.
I can relax, I don't have to get down and
push weights around. But usually by like day three or
day four, I start to get antsy. I notice my
anxiety starts to increase. It's very noticeable, and usually after
three or four days, unless I have the flu or something,
(29:36):
I have to get back down and push some weight around.
It feels good to release those endorphins. It helps burn
off steam kind of that excess anxiety that's built up.
It's a healthy way to push that out. I think
it's great. Plus, it's the practice of working out. I
think is a huge boost to you mentally. Just being
(29:56):
the type of person that is able to work work
out every day and that that's part of your routine.
I think that's the huge support to your mental health.
Knowing that you can commit to something like that, and
that's not just working out, but any type of activity
that you commit to, whether it's a career or a
family or even if it's a daily walk with your dogs.
(30:19):
Just being able to do that he'll to reinforce the
type of person that you want to be.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I love that. I absolutely love that. That is so true.
And we have a certain percentage of our ovulation that
can't even fathom lifting weights because they may not even
be able to walk. They may not have the energy
to walk across the room. But I know that there
are exercises that you can do from a sitting position,
(30:49):
and like you were saying, where you just use your
own weight, you don't necessarily have to get every weight.
When I first was starting with a Body for Life program,
ever lifted weights before, and I started with cans of corn.
Then I was able to build up and I was
doing pretty well when I've finished. Now I'm going to
have to start with can's corn again because it's been
(31:11):
years since I was working out. But I'm looking forward
to starting a regular program. There is something to having
that regular scheduled program where you know every day, I'm
going to do this at this time or for this
period of time. And I think your body does like
that kind of routine, don't you. Oh?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Absolutely. It's hard, I know to think in the long
term because working out it's hard at first, and people
generally don't enjoy it a ton at first because you
don't see the rewards immediately. But it's like investing money.
People understand compound interest when they make an investment, and
(31:56):
working out, running, eating while is an investment in your body,
and you will see that compound interest when years go
by and you notice your body looks completely different than
it did before. You feel stronger, You're able to get
through your normal daily schedule more easily. What's the end
of the day and your dog wants you to take
(32:18):
them for a walk, and you've had a crazy day
at work and doing stuff with your kids and your
bed running around all day, but you can still get
up walk the dogs and you're like, yeah, I have
plenty of energy for that. That's really where the playoff is.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah. Absolutely, And when you get to be my age,
I don't want to slow down. I want to still
be able to travel and to get down on the
floor with my granddaughter and play games with her. And
I'm not going to be able to unless I stay fit.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Right, That's exactly it. Where do you want to be
when you're in your eighties or in your early nineties.
You may not be hiking up the side of a
mountain at that age, but it'd be nice to be
able to walk with your grandkids around the block or
maybe great grandkids at that point, to be able to
go out for coffee with some friends and be able
(33:08):
to park the car and walk to where you're going
without needing a wheelchair or eating assistance. That's a goal.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
When I was first starting with this taichi program, I
have a video that I use and the gentleman who
is leading us in a taichi exercise talks about how
being able to care for yourself and being able to
move your body in space is one of the freedoms
that we can enjoy as adults. And when all of
(33:39):
a sudden you cannot move your body in space, you
lose an amount of freedom and you don't want to
do that. That's why it's so important to keep moving.
You have to keep moving, otherwise you won't be able
to get out of that chair, or you won't be
able to walk up that hill. When I was listening
to him, he has this really then type person, which
(34:01):
I appreciate. It's awesome that as he was explaining all
of this, I thought, he's exactly right. That's why you
see sometimes in the movies where there will be a
whole park full of people doing these exercises. That's the
way it should be. We should be looking at this
as something that we can all do as a community
(34:22):
because it helps everybody in.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
The community, right absolutely, and talk about mental health. How
great would it feel at ninety years old to be
able to take a walk in the park without assistance.
I can't imagine anything feeling better than that and having
that freedom you don't have to wait for somebody to
wheel you somewhere if you want something.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I just love that. I thank your idea about staying
healthy and working on your posture as something you talk
about in Taichi as well. Your posture says so much
about you. If you do feel yourself hunching over, that's
when you really need to focus and work on standing
up straight and tall, because the more you're leaning over
(35:05):
like that, the harder it is to read. It affects
your diaphragm, it affects your chest, and for somebody who
has a heart condition, you don't want that, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I have different days of the week where I focus
on different things with my business, but usually Tuesdays is
when I do a billing for clients and staff, payroll
and scheduling, and a lot of office work. I set
an alarm on my phone for sixty minutes and every hour,
even if I'm in the middle of typing a sentence,
I stand up and do some of those stretches I
(35:38):
mentioned earlier, or I have my their gun right next
to me here and I'll blast at the front of
my shoulders just to loosen things up a little bit,
because if I sit all day without getting up for
those quick movement breaks, then by the end of the day,
my whole front of my body is achy and yeah,
not good.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Is that good for your eyes? Trying to do that too.
I have a punnet and Lego Loss likes to get
out and walk around, and he'll come to me, let
me know, mom, it's time to get up and move.
And I realize, oh, I'm starting to get a headache too.
I've been looking at my computer screen too close for
too long and need to look further away. All of
this stuff is interconnected, and I'm so glad we had
(36:21):
a chance to talk about this, because this is not
a topic that I've really addressed with anyone before. But
it's so crucial, not just for people who have a
ARC ndition, but really for anybody.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Absolutely, and things are very convenient and very easy, which
is great, but the downside of that is we move
less than we did twenty thirty years ago, we eat
more than we did twenty or thirty years ago, and
as a society, it it's like we're getting generally less healthy.
And it doesn't take a lot but regular movement and
(36:55):
getting some kind of a fitness and nutrition habit and
so a lot of those problems and makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Absolutely, thank you so much for coming on the program
today and sharing your advice and your experiences.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Pospen Oh, it's my pleasure. If anybody has any questions
regarding working out, whether it's a heart condition related or not,
they can feel free to reach out to me. Okay,
I will have your contact information in the show notes.
That does conclude this episode of Hard to Heart with Anna.
Check out my YouTube channel because we will be posting
(37:30):
the videos as Ben shares them with us.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And thanks for listening today, my friends. Hope you found
this program helpful.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Do you have any questions to have the show and
send them to the other herd.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Website that's martunipequote dot com. We also have a heart
harbor uniface that age. You can reach out to me
here as well, and I will click the linkage notes
every enough, My friends, you are not blow Thank.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
You again for joining us this week. We hope you
have become inspired and empowered to become an advocate for
the congenital heart community. Heart Heart with Anna with your
host Anna Jaworski can be heard at any time wherever
you get your podcasts. A new episode is released every
Tuesday from noon Eastern time.
Anyone interested in getting started in a workout program, I
recommend start where I did, which was just a few
days a week mostly body weight exercises, and then over
time that intensity compounds.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Welcome to Heart to Heart with Eanna. I am Anna
Dorsky and your host all also a heartman to an
adult who was born with a single vidrical heart and
is thirty years old that series, and I'm the host
of be a BROCN. Today's guest is Ben Johnson and
I know I said a little friendly storry friends. I
am recovery of laryngitis. But Ben is awesome and he's
(00:39):
going to help me with this show today. Ben is
a forty five year old SPHD survivor who was born
with a trilogy of the life. He said, one corrective
surgery at four years of age in heighteen eighty three
and he's been living the healthy lifestyle. Emerson Tamer, he
rends his own tax hitting and jog walking racists Wisconsin
(01:01):
where he grew up. That has a degree a music
education in the university's consent my father and enjoy sifting
weights and working out the Welcome to Heart.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
To Hearts, Thank you, Anna, I'm very happy to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I'm so happy to have you on the program, and
I understand it. You're first and only corrective surgery was
at the age of four, so I'm wondering what memories
of that time in your life do you have.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Yes, I honestly don't remember a ton about my life
around my surgery time, being only four years old. I
have little pictures in my mind of things happening. I
remember waking up in the hospital with electrodes and tubes
attached to me, and being fairly scared and asking for
my parents. I also remember my mom telling me to
(01:54):
take it easy shortly after my surgery, after I had
gotten back home. I know that that I used to
like to ride my big wheel and my bike with
friends around the neighborhood, So I don't know if she
was telling me to calm down because of my surgery
or if I was just being a general crazy four
year old on a big wheel.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
I love it. I could just imagine you on your
big wheel, so it mustn't have heard too much if
you were out there on a big wheel.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yeah, I don't remember being out of breath. I do
have a memory of wearing a ultra monitor. I don't
remember if it was right after my surgery or like
a six months after to check in on things. But
at the time, it was like a tape recorder in
a big backpack, and I remember walking around with that thing,
and then I remember taking a tape out because you
(02:41):
had maybe ninety minutes or on a side, so you
had to take it out and replace it with a
new cassette tape. I remember it came on school, so
my dad spent like an hour winding the tape with
a pencil. Luckily, those things have gotten so much smaller
and easier to live with. I really don't remember my
surgery impacting my activity and what I did on a
regular basis at the time.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's good, and at four, I wouldn't expect you to.
I don't remember much from when I was four, except
I had a baby's sister, and I remember helping my
mother when she was changing the baby's diaper, ending her
the petroleum jelly, handing her the little safety pins for
the diapers, and playing paddy Cake with my baby sister.
(03:25):
But that's it, and we're so much older now.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
That was a long time ago, right, Yeah, I have
like little flashes, and honestly, don't know what they were
from that time in my life or it was later.
But yeah, it's hard to remember what I did four
hours ago, much less forty one years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I love it. I love it. So after your surgery,
it sounds like you had a new lease on life.
You were back on your bike.
Speaker 3 (03:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Did you have siblings growing up?
Speaker 1 (03:57):
I did. I have two younger brothers, although my youngest
brother is quite a bit younger than I am, so
really growing up, I had a brother that was three
years younger than me.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Okay, so he only would have been a baby when
you had that surgery, so it's not like you were
running around with him.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
No, he stayed with some relatives. I think my grab
and grandpa here in Wisconsin, and I had the surgery
in New York, so he was with them for a
couple of weeks so my parents could focus on me.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Oh wow, that's good that you had that kind of
support system. And he rob it doesn't remember anything because
he was just an Apan.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
He doesn't. He'll say that being away from my parents
for that time started for life. But he's just messing
with me.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
Hell bit, when you were a little bit older, say
when he was five and you were eight, Do you
remember running around rough housling with your brother, doing the
things that brothers do.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Absolutely, I really don't remember any time where I couldn't
play and run around and explore with him or with
the other friends around the neighborhood that were my age.
I really can't remember my heart conditions slowing me down
too much. I remember in early elementary school, teachers would
sometimes check in to see how I was doing, and
(05:14):
at the time I'm like, I'm fine, Well it's a problem,
but obviously they were chucking me in, so my parents
had communicated my heart situation with them.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Plus, imagine, if you wore a shirt the head of
ev Nek, part of your scar could be seen. Yeh, absolutely,
and you wouldn't be looking at it, but other people
would see it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Easy to forget that I have that, even though when
I look in the mirror, I can have weeks go
by where I don't even notice it, and then I'm like, oh, yeah,
I got that scar thing.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
I know. I broke my arm and I'm seven. I
am a massive scar on my elbow. I almost never
think of it, right, It's just part of who you are,
but exactly it would dwell on it all the time.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I think that would be a bit obsessed, definitely, And
I don't know that too many people even notice it.
I do have some tattoos on my chest, so people
usually ask about those and notice those before the scar.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Interesting. So your doctor was okay with you getting tattoos.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, I didn't really talk to him about it. I
probably should have. Fun I got him and you didn't
say anything afterwards, and they're fairly obvious.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
But yeah, I mean, when you're doing a chess examination,
if you tattoo on your chest, we're going to see it.
That is really fun. So you didn't ask you doctors
permission or for any safeguards or anything. You just went
and did it just like any other person would do.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Right, exactly. It really didn't occur to me. I just
made sure I went to a reputable tattoo parlor that
had clean equipment and a good recommendation.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Am If I asked how old you were and you
got your first tattoo or.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
See my first tattoo, I was probably about thirty four
thirty five.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh so this wasn't a teenage thing.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
No, I was much older.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yep, Okay, what concerns did you and your family have
regarding your heart to effect as you were a child
growing up.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
The surgeon that I had didn't remove as much muscle
tissue as mistraditionally done in tetrology of flow surgery. I'm
not sure why. It was kind of a method that
he pioneered at the time. So one of the concerns
that I've always had because I had more muscle tissue
right ventricular hypertrophy, which ultimately could lead to pressure issues
(07:37):
and pressure and balance than my heart which might require
a second surgery down the road. I'm in the wait
and see every year mode, still at forty five, so
I'm happy for that. But when I first moved back
to Wisconsin when I was seven, the new cardiologist I
had was pretty concerned about it. He initially thought that
surgery would be needed much sooner red than later, but
(08:00):
after the catheterization, came to the agreement that we see
what the changes were over time. That was probably the
only time where I remember having a conversation with my parents,
and I was only seven, but I remember them talking
about if they'd seek a second opinion if that cardiologist
recommended a surgery at the time, and ultimately that didn't happen,
(08:21):
and I've been stable since, but that's really the only
time I can remember having a major concern about it.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Heart to Heart with Anna is a presentation of Hearts
Unite the Globe and as part of the hug podcast network.
Hearts Unite the Globe is a nonprofit organization devoted to
providing resources to the congenital heart defect community to uplift, empower,
and enrich the lives of our community members. If you
would like access to free resources pretending to the PhD community,
(08:54):
please visit our website at Wwwcongenitalheartdefects dot com. An information
about HD, the hospitals that treat children with PhD, summer
camps for HD survivors, and much much more.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Then when did you first decide to work out and
lift weights? Because I know a lot of people who
are critical because you had heart patients are told they
can't lift weights, or if they do, it can only
be very small weights. They can't do bodybuilding.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
I started on and off when I was in college
in my mid twenties through mid thirties. I'd work out
for a few months and then i'd stop for a
few months, and it was not very focused. I did
not talk to my cardiologists at the time about it.
I had a pediatric cardiologist through my mid thirties, when
he retired and I went to an adult congenital clinic,
(09:48):
so he always felt that I was staying in good
shape and encouraged continuing to be active, but didn't necessarily
recommend lifting and lifting heavy weights. A few years ago,
I actually at the beginning of COVID, I started working
with the trader and that's when I really got serious
about lifting and gradually building up to lifting heavier weights.
(10:10):
And a few years ago my cardiologist asked me what
my routine was, and I told him, and he said, hmm,
if you came in and asked me if I suggested
doing that routine, I would probably say no, But I
can't really argue with the results.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
So it was Yeah, from a cardiac standpoint, he felt
that your heart was doing well and you weren't doing
anything to damage it.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Yeah, you really didn't have any concerns over my heart
function or lifting too heavy or pushing things too hard.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Wow, Now, is the personal trainer that you're working with
somebody who has worked with other people with heart conditions.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
No, he is not he's based in Brooklyn. I followed
him and his brother for quite a while. They do
a lot on social media in the Kalisthenics movement and
have written an number of books, so I read and
kept in touch with them, and then they both went
to virtual training when COVID started because all the gyms
were closed down, so that's when I started working with him.
(11:10):
He's obviously well aware of my heart condition and depends
on me to speak up if there's anything that I
have concerns about regarding my heart.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Have you noticed any that in pains or anything amiss
when you do the lifting? Because I know, I talked
to one gentleman. It's much older than you, but also
a tetralogy and philippation as a matter of fact. Oh
and she, yeah, she is cool now that I think about.
And Jim one time lifted a canoe over his head
(11:43):
and when he lifted the canoe he felt a plot
and a sternam wire busted through his chest. Oh jeeves,
can you imagine an He wrote to the er and
they called doctor Marco, He's doctor. The doctor came over
and he snipped the wire, buff and send him away
(12:05):
with a bill. He wasn't happy with the bill that
he caught, as I recall, which is kind of funny
because all he did was take some tool and just
snip the metal off. But I would be really concerned
I fall zi. Yeah, death wire fixed very much us.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Luckily, I've never had any wires pop out, thankfully, or
any injuries. I've had soreness and other getting banged up
a little bit from various lifts and things like that,
but nothing directly heart related.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Right, So, just the normal aches and pains that any
human being has when they push themselves physically. Right, Let's
hope that never happens to you. I've never heard of
that happening to anybody else. Yeah, But the interesting thing
is my heart Warrior told me that when she was
a teenager she was going through puberty, that sometimes her
(13:00):
chest would hurt, and I wondered if it had something
to do with the cerno mares. And when I contacted
the cardiologist, he said it was probably growing pains and
kids go through that sometimes. Then there was nothing wrong
with her heart, and after a while it did go away.
Did you ever experience anything like that when you were
(13:21):
growing up?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I did.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Around my chest, I had really bad growing pains in
my legs, so that kind of yeah, anything else, but yeah,
I mean it makes sense if you think that there's
scar tissue right there is trauma to the chest area,
so as any bones, muscles, connective tissue are growing, it's
going to be a little bit more sensitive there than
(13:45):
anywhere else. It's scary when you have a heart condition
and an area in your chest is hurting, But it
does make total sense that the trauma from the surgery
would certainly affect how you're and muscles feel that you're growing.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Oh my goodness, which you just said about having the
aches in your legs too. Hope also had that, And
now that I think about it, you guys have catterizations,
but you have scar tissue in your legs as well,
right in your growing area, So I wonder if that
contributes to the pain and the legs as well. I
never thought about that until you just said that. Amazing.
(14:25):
I've talked to other art warriors as well who tell
me the same thing that they also had growing pains,
but they're growing pains. Any kid that goes through growing pains.
But I think when you are dealing with living with
a chronic condition like general heart disease, you're always questioning
is this something to do with the heart? Is this
(14:45):
something I need to be worried about?
Speaker 1 (14:48):
I still do with If I have too much caffeine
and my heart speeds up a little bit, my first
thought as always, oh, what's going on there? And then like, well,
I had two more cups of coffee than I normally have,
so that's probably it.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Absolutely, And my husband, who does not have a cogenital
heart effect, is really sensitive to caffeine. We've warned Hope
watch out. Dad's super affected by caffeine as am I.
I usually drink herbal tea. I've never been a coffee drinker,
and that is something that she notices. When she drinks
SODA's it tends to be caffeine free like seven up
(15:24):
or Pier, but she tries not to drink too much soda.
And that's my next question. You've gone on a health
kick where you have made dietary change is to boost
your exercise regime. Can you talk to me a little
bit about that?
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Absolutely? First, I love that you praise that as what
dietary changes did you make to boost the effectiveness of
the routine. So many people when they think of diet
they think of restriction taking away losing weight, which is understandable.
We have obviously weight concerns in this country and around
(16:04):
the world, but so many people often think, I need
to lose weight, I need to get fit, I need
to get in shape. What do I need to take
out of my diet? But I think thinking about your
diet as what do you need to put in to
fuel your lifestyle is so much better way to look
at it. Psychologically, It's rewarding rather than punitive. When I
(16:25):
started getting on this, I focused on making sure I
have lean protein with every meal, fresh fruits multiple times
a day, rawn, steamed vegetables. I try to limit packaged foods,
check labels if there's something that has a name that
I can't pronounce or I can't picture in the wild,
like I can picture blueberries, and I can even picture
(16:47):
honey as a sugar substitute, but I can't picture sodium bicarbonate.
If somebody asked me what that look like, I wouldn't
be able to do that. Generally, the more ingredients usually
the worst, but I make sure that I'm getting those fruits,
those veggies, lean protein, eating plenty of nuts and seeds
which have a lot of healthy fats to them. I
(17:08):
also have a repetitive diet. I think people who generally
are fit or who are athletes will generally eat the
same types of things day in and day out, and
it helps figure out what your body needs, what your
body reacts to. I found personally that eating a lot
of high grain carbs, eating a lot of bread, pasta,
(17:30):
cereal that leads to inflammation. I feel more sore after workouts.
My elbows and shoulders tend to be a little bit
more sore, I feel a little bit sluggish. I think
it exacerbates my allergies and sinuses. So I pretty much
eliminate grain based carbs for that reason. But by making
(17:52):
sure I'm getting enough protein, enough vitamins, and enough minerals
on a daily basis and using that as my baseline,
then I can add to that and see how it
affects me. And if there's something like caffeine, generally I
can drink a lot of coffee and it doesn't really
affect me, where some people can look at a cup
of coffee and their heart rate goes up. But for me,
(18:13):
grains and pastas and cereals they don't make me feel well. Yeah,
that's the base level of nutrition. And then if I'm
going through a phase where I'm lifting heavy and trying
to add on muscle, I'll eat more calories. I'll be
a little bit less conscious of whether the protein I
have is quite as lean. I might have more fat
(18:34):
and definitely more treats and stuff of that nature. And
then when I'm trying to lean out or lose a
little bit of weight, I'll dial back. I'll pretty much
eliminate those grain based carbs, try to eat leaner proteins
and limit rice, potatoes, beans and nuts a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
Wow, it sounds like a low carb diet is something
that you favor.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
It is, But I do eat fruit as much as
I want, which is usually four or five servings a
day with every meal.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Same thing with vegetables, salads, carrots, snat peas, steamed veggies
with dinner every night. Okay, So you.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Can eat your carrots and potatoes and that's okay.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
Yeah, the potatoes, some people don't do as well on those.
They don't seem to impact my blood sugar too much.
I feel pretty good when I eat those. I do
eat rice, potatoes and a lot of fruits.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
And vegetables Okay Cool embark on a heartwarming odyssey with
Baby Hearts Pressure gateway to uplifting stories for the c
HD community. Introducing the Heart of a Heart Warrior book
series inspiring those born with heart effects and their loved ones.
Discover the heart of a mother, the heart of her father,
(19:50):
and my brother needs an operation. Books celebrating strength, love
and familiar support. Is it Baby Heartspress dot com and
be part of our loving community uplifting hearts one story
at a time. This content is not intended to be
a substitute for a professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
The opinions expressed in the podcast are not those of
(20:13):
Heart to Unite the Globe, but of the hosts and guests,
and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to
congenital heart disease or bereavement.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
You are listening to Heart to Heart with Anna. If
you have a question or comment that you would like
to addressed on our show, please send an email to
Anna Jaworski at Anna at Heart to Heartwanna dot com.
That's Anna at Heart to Heart with Anna dot com.
Now back to Heart to Heart with Anna.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
You mentioned that your workouts can help with nick and
shoulder pain as well as postural issues. And these are
issues that a lot of Heart warriors I've talked to
I've had to deal with, probably because they had to
spend hours on an operating and they're not in a
normal position. I have their sternum packed open and their
(21:07):
ribs are splayed apart. So I know quite a few
our warriors who have had to deal with scoliosis and
other problems. Do you think that your workouts or dumb
guided workout could help people who are dealing with those
kinds of issues, And if so, can you tell us
where they could learn more?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
Absolutely, this is something that I'm very passionate about. I'm
not going to say that it'll fix scoliosis. That's a
medical problem. People should talk to their doctors, obviously, But
I dealt with pretty severe neck pain. I was doing
some yard work in my early twenties and I pulled
one of my trapezius muscles just under my right shoulder,
(21:48):
and as soon as I did that, everything kind of
seized up around it. I couldn't lift my head up,
I couldn't move it left and right. So I went
to a physical therapist. I had some pain meds muscle relax.
I did six weeks of physical therapy where we did
massage in the area and then a lot of stretching
for the injured area, and I recovered. Then about six
(22:11):
months later, I think I was carrying some dining chairs
upstairs and I did the same thing, went through physical
therapy again, and I dealt with it probably for about
eight years or so, where it was like every six
months to a year, I would do something and it
wasn't anything crazy. It was basic mowing the lawn or
basic life skills and constantly pulling it. It was the
(22:33):
point where I couldn't lift my head up, I couldn't
move my neck. I kept going to therapy, and I
just knew that there had to be something more there.
So I started to do a lot of research on
my own and look at some different weightlifting programs. It
started to make sense to me that because of my
heart condition and having surgery when I was really young,
(22:53):
before my bones and muscles and connective tissue were even
close to being fully developed, my chest cracked open. I
still have scar tissue and realize not only do I
have scar tissue on the outside of my body, that
I can see, but there's scar tissue underneath too, on
my heart all the way down my sternum, so it
makes sense that I would be tighter in the chest area.
(23:17):
And then, like everybody nowadays, spend so much time in
front of your phone or in front of a computer
that it just reinforces that forward hunched head posture, forward shoulders.
So I did a lot of research and found that
there were three areas that I needed to focus on,
and once I did that for about four months, I
haven't had a single issue now for maybe fifteen twenty years.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
It completely completely resolved that. So the first thing I did,
and I still do these exercises just about every day,
so it's not something that you fix and you're done,
because the scar tissue is always there. The first thing
I do is I make sure to stretch my in
the front of my shoulders, my interior shoulders, doing like
Peck stretches against a doorway, stretching against a pole, just
(24:08):
to kind of open that area up. The chest muscles
get tight and shortened, which limits your range of motion,
and then because of that, if you don't stretch it,
it's pulling on your back muscles, which is where my
injury came from, and every time I went to physical therapy,
they focused on stretching my back muscles. But problem is
(24:28):
those muscles were already stretched out and like a rubber band,
can only stretch so much before it's naps. So instead
of stretching the back, I focused on strengthening the back,
doing a lot of rows, some dumbel flies, wall slides, ytw's,
and l's on an exercise ball to build up those
(24:49):
postura muscles in the upper back at the same time
stretching the front and restoring range of motion and normal
posture to my shoulders. Then the third thing is I
do a lot of cell masside with my fingers on
my scar tissue. I got a thera gun which I
used to massage with the front of my shoulders and
my chest just to relieve that tightness and that soreness.
(25:12):
I'm planning to make some videos post on your YouTube
page that show some of these stretches and exercises. I'll
hopefully have those ready to go in the next week
or so. If anybody has any question, I'd be more
happy to coach them through that.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
That's amazing you did not talk about the kind of
exercises I would have expected. But now that you've explained it,
it makes perfect sense. What led you to figure out
that these were the exercises you needed to do? Going
to physical therapy multiple times? Is that where you figured
if I keep doing this, I feel better? Or is
(25:50):
there some other way that you found out that these
are the exercises she needed?
Speaker 1 (25:54):
No, it was kind of the opposite, where I felt
like the physical therapy helped and I feel better. But
a few months later the same thing happened. So I
did a lot of searching on some different strength programs,
specifically that addressed postural issues and muscle and balances. So
that's where I started. I do these as warm up
exercises and cool down stretches every day around my more
(26:18):
traditional full body lifting program, but I still make sure
to do these exercises, and then I also try to
make sure I incorporate more pulling than pushing, more rows,
more upper bank work than I do, chess exercises, bench press,
and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
How much time every day do you spend exercising About
an hour five days a week usually wow, five days
a week, Wow. I saw a lot of weight lifting.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
To be clear, this is about four years of gradual
increases in the frequency that I work out, the length
of time I work out, the weight I'm lifting, and
the exercises I'm doing. Anyone interested in getting started in
a workout program, I recommend start where I did, which
was just a few days a week mostly body weight exercises,
(27:11):
and then over time that intensity compounds to where you
can work out multiple days a week without getting too
sore and getting too rundown. But it's not like I
just one day woke up and said, Hey, I'm going
to work out five times this week. It was a
long slope.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, you'd be in bed with then tubla bays. It
would be hard to keep that up. So one of
the things my husband and I are looking into, and
I really want to do it. I just need to
be stricter with myself with my time is tai chi.
I don't know if you've ever done that before, but
that's a beautiful way to start stretching gently wake your
(27:52):
muscles up before you do an exercise regime. Have you
ever tried tai chi or yoga?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I haven't tried tightchi. I do yoga. A lot of
the stretches that I do are from yoga practices, but
I do have some friends that do taichi, and it's
great for oiling your joints. It's great getting that fluid
going through your body, warming up your muscles, stretching your muscles, tightchi. Really,
(28:19):
any type of martial art is phenomenal for strength and
recovery and muscle building, stretching and everything.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Let's talk about the importance of working out and how
that affects your mood, because there's been a ton of
research now that shows that there's a connection between working
out and your mood and your mental health. That seems
to be something that's a big issue in our community.
Can you talk to me about the importance of working
out to exercise our mental health.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
Absolutely. I've dealt with anxiety for as long as I
can remember, and along with working out, I do some
daily meditation. I've gotten really big into stoic philosophy, which
has helped put things into perspective. But I do notice
if I'm not feeling great, or if I tweak something
during the workout and I decide to take a couple
(29:13):
of days off, usually the first and second day off
from working out, It's like, oh, this is so nice.
I can relax, I don't have to get down and
push weights around. But usually by like day three or
day four, I start to get antsy. I notice my
anxiety starts to increase. It's very noticeable, and usually after
three or four days, unless I have the flu or something,
(29:36):
I have to get back down and push some weight around.
It feels good to release those endorphins. It helps burn
off steam kind of that excess anxiety that's built up.
It's a healthy way to push that out. I think
it's great. Plus, it's the practice of working out. I
think is a huge boost to you mentally. Just being
(29:56):
the type of person that is able to work work
out every day and that that's part of your routine.
I think that's the huge support to your mental health.
Knowing that you can commit to something like that, and
that's not just working out, but any type of activity
that you commit to, whether it's a career or a
family or even if it's a daily walk with your dogs.
(30:19):
Just being able to do that he'll to reinforce the
type of person that you want to be.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
I love that. I absolutely love that. That is so true.
And we have a certain percentage of our ovulation that
can't even fathom lifting weights because they may not even
be able to walk. They may not have the energy
to walk across the room. But I know that there
are exercises that you can do from a sitting position,
(30:49):
and like you were saying, where you just use your
own weight, you don't necessarily have to get every weight.
When I first was starting with a Body for Life program,
ever lifted weights before, and I started with cans of corn.
Then I was able to build up and I was
doing pretty well when I've finished. Now I'm going to
have to start with can's corn again because it's been
(31:11):
years since I was working out. But I'm looking forward
to starting a regular program. There is something to having
that regular scheduled program where you know every day, I'm
going to do this at this time or for this
period of time. And I think your body does like
that kind of routine, don't you. Oh?
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Absolutely. It's hard, I know to think in the long
term because working out it's hard at first, and people
generally don't enjoy it a ton at first because you
don't see the rewards immediately. But it's like investing money.
People understand compound interest when they make an investment, and
(31:56):
working out, running, eating while is an investment in your body,
and you will see that compound interest when years go
by and you notice your body looks completely different than
it did before. You feel stronger, You're able to get
through your normal daily schedule more easily. What's the end
of the day and your dog wants you to take
(32:18):
them for a walk, and you've had a crazy day
at work and doing stuff with your kids and your
bed running around all day, but you can still get
up walk the dogs and you're like, yeah, I have
plenty of energy for that. That's really where the playoff is.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
Yeah. Absolutely, And when you get to be my age,
I don't want to slow down. I want to still
be able to travel and to get down on the
floor with my granddaughter and play games with her. And
I'm not going to be able to unless I stay fit.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Right, That's exactly it. Where do you want to be
when you're in your eighties or in your early nineties.
You may not be hiking up the side of a
mountain at that age, but it'd be nice to be
able to walk with your grandkids around the block or
maybe great grandkids at that point, to be able to
go out for coffee with some friends and be able
(33:08):
to park the car and walk to where you're going
without needing a wheelchair or eating assistance. That's a goal.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
When I was first starting with this taichi program, I
have a video that I use and the gentleman who
is leading us in a taichi exercise talks about how
being able to care for yourself and being able to
move your body in space is one of the freedoms
that we can enjoy as adults. And when all of
(33:39):
a sudden you cannot move your body in space, you
lose an amount of freedom and you don't want to
do that. That's why it's so important to keep moving.
You have to keep moving, otherwise you won't be able
to get out of that chair, or you won't be
able to walk up that hill. When I was listening
to him, he has this really then type person, which
(34:01):
I appreciate. It's awesome that as he was explaining all
of this, I thought, he's exactly right. That's why you
see sometimes in the movies where there will be a
whole park full of people doing these exercises. That's the
way it should be. We should be looking at this
as something that we can all do as a community
(34:22):
because it helps everybody in.
Speaker 1 (34:23):
The community, right absolutely, and talk about mental health. How
great would it feel at ninety years old to be
able to take a walk in the park without assistance.
I can't imagine anything feeling better than that and having
that freedom you don't have to wait for somebody to
wheel you somewhere if you want something.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
I just love that. I thank your idea about staying
healthy and working on your posture as something you talk
about in Taichi as well. Your posture says so much
about you. If you do feel yourself hunching over, that's
when you really need to focus and work on standing
up straight and tall, because the more you're leaning over
(35:05):
like that, the harder it is to read. It affects
your diaphragm, it affects your chest, and for somebody who
has a heart condition, you don't want that, right. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
I have different days of the week where I focus
on different things with my business, but usually Tuesdays is
when I do a billing for clients and staff, payroll
and scheduling, and a lot of office work. I set
an alarm on my phone for sixty minutes and every hour,
even if I'm in the middle of typing a sentence,
I stand up and do some of those stretches I
(35:38):
mentioned earlier, or I have my their gun right next
to me here and I'll blast at the front of
my shoulders just to loosen things up a little bit,
because if I sit all day without getting up for
those quick movement breaks, then by the end of the day,
my whole front of my body is achy and yeah,
not good.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Is that good for your eyes? Trying to do that too.
I have a punnet and Lego Loss likes to get
out and walk around, and he'll come to me, let
me know, mom, it's time to get up and move.
And I realize, oh, I'm starting to get a headache too.
I've been looking at my computer screen too close for
too long and need to look further away. All of
this stuff is interconnected, and I'm so glad we had
(36:21):
a chance to talk about this, because this is not
a topic that I've really addressed with anyone before. But
it's so crucial, not just for people who have a
ARC ndition, but really for anybody.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Absolutely, and things are very convenient and very easy, which
is great, but the downside of that is we move
less than we did twenty thirty years ago, we eat
more than we did twenty or thirty years ago, and
as a society, it it's like we're getting generally less healthy.
And it doesn't take a lot but regular movement and
(36:55):
getting some kind of a fitness and nutrition habit and
so a lot of those problems and makes a huge difference.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Absolutely, thank you so much for coming on the program
today and sharing your advice and your experiences.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Pospen Oh, it's my pleasure. If anybody has any questions
regarding working out, whether it's a heart condition related or not,
they can feel free to reach out to me. Okay,
I will have your contact information in the show notes.
That does conclude this episode of Hard to Heart with Anna.
Check out my YouTube channel because we will be posting
(37:30):
the videos as Ben shares them with us.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And thanks for listening today, my friends. Hope you found
this program helpful.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Do you have any questions to have the show and
send them to the other herd.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
Website that's martunipequote dot com. We also have a heart
harbor uniface that age. You can reach out to me
here as well, and I will click the linkage notes
every enough, My friends, you are not blow Thank.
Speaker 3 (37:53):
You again for joining us this week. We hope you
have become inspired and empowered to become an advocate for
the congenital heart community. Heart Heart with Anna with your
host Anna Jaworski can be heard at any time wherever
you get your podcasts. A new episode is released every
Tuesday from noon Eastern time.
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