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My exercise program for POTS and deconditioning

I designed the following schedule for myself after being medically cleared to return to exercise following surgery. This routine is not appropriate for everyone. Please speak with your medical provider regarding safe ways to exercise.

I put together this routine for myself by integrating POTS/dysautonomia exercise programs and my own personal exercise history. Even on my most miserable days, I walk for 20-30 minutes, so walking is something that I can trust to not raise my heart rate. I also have been practicing vinyasa style yoga for over fifteen years and started with very easy seated poses and progressed to more fluid sequences (Sun Salutation A 3-5x, Sun Salutation B 3x, followed by whatever sequences I felt were reasonable for that day.)

For the first few weeks, I timed my exercise for about an hour after taking antihistamines. For weeks 1-3, I performed all of my allotted exercise for the day consecutively over about an hour. For weeks 4-8, walking was often broken up over the course of the day as this included walking I did as part of my commute. My first walk of the day occurs within an hour of taking my morning medications and I take meds about an hour before leaving work for the day to cover my commute home.

Slow walking: about 2.5-3 miles/hour
Moderate walking: about 3-3.5 miles/hour

For seated cardio, I just looked around online for some seated cardio that I could do at home. I found a few routines.

For standing cardio, I did various things like jumping jacks and high knees. I usually incorporated bodyweight exercises that I could modify, like squats and planks.

Walking was all done outside. Some was done at night and some during the day. I tried to limit walking during the middle of the day to the extent that it was possible because heat and sunlight trigger me. All other exercises were done in my air conditioned apartment.

If I felt like I needed a break while exercising, I took a break. So ten minutes of cardio does not always represent ten consecutive minutes, but rather a total of ten minutes performing cardio exercise.

As I added in more exercise, I increased to exercising four days a week, which means that sometimes I exercise twice in one day. Walking is also split up over the course of the day, as I previously mentioned.

Week One:

Three days:
Twenty minutes of slow walking
Ten minutes seated cardio
Twenty minutes stretching/seated yoga
Ten minutes slow walking

Week Two:

Three days:
Thirty minutes of slow/moderate walking
Ten minutes seated cardio
Ten minutes yoga
Ten minutes stretching

Week Three:

Three days:
Forty minutes of moderate walking
Twenty minutes yoga
Ten minutes stretching

One day:
Sixty minutes of walking

Week Four:

Two days:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking
Twenty minutes of yoga

One day:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking

Week Five:

Two days:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking
Twenty minutes of yoga

One day:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking
Ten minutes of standing cardio

One day:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking

Week Six:

Two days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking
Twenty minutes of yoga

Two days:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking
Ten minutes of standing cardio

Week Seven:

Two days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking
Twenty minutes of yoga

Two days:
Fifty minutes of moderate walking
Fifteen minutes of standing cardio

Week Eight:

Two days:
Fifteen-twenty minutes of standing cardio
Twenty minutes of yoga

Three days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking

 

Edited on 29 Jan 2017 to include weeks 9-12 of this program:

Week Nine:

Two days:
Twenty minutes of standing cardio
Thirty minutes of yoga (intermediate)

Three days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking

Week Ten:

Three days:
Twenty minutes of standing cardio
Forty minutes of yoga (intermediate)

Three days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking

Week Eleven:

Three days:
Fifty minutes of yoga (intermediate/advanced, pace moderate/fast)

Three days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking

Week Twelve:

Three days:
Sixty minutes of yoga (intermediate/advanced, pace moderate/fast)

Three days:
Sixty minutes of moderate walking