When was the bypass? Good for you on lifting weights.
I really need to do something more for upper body strength.
Two days after Christmas, 2017. Spent Christmas in the hospital after a mild heart attack that the cardiologist told me did not damage my heart. Lifting weights is NOT and option for most heart attack patients. I was very lucky!!!
Us older folk have one golden rule: Be very careful not to hurt yourself. It takes you out of the game if you damage a ligament, muscle or rotator cuff. If you are on the sideline injured, you cannot make progress. Start light and use reps to condition. Work up slowly.
When I got out of the hospital, my surgeon said lift no more than 10 lbs. Went back to see him at the end of January and he told me after Valentine’s day, I could lift 20 lbs. That is when I started working with two- 10-lb dumbbells. I had already been walking. There was a time or two later I felt the bones in my sternum shift. I immediately stopped and reduced weight.
My surgeon told me it would take about 3 months for my sternum to heal. Sure enough, it started feeling more stable by then, but I did not start trusting it with a little heavier weights until after 4 months, just to be safe. For fear of getting over-balanced with barbells, I did not pick up a barbell until 6 months after surgery. I was able to do crunches (without using my arms) by the end of February.