Heart Rate Monitor

[acr]

Hi Folks,

I'll be 3 weeks out of surgery tomorrow. Just had a mad moment and went shopping on Amazon for a watch style HRM and have gone for a Garmin Forerunner 50. Ok its a little early to be considering using this but I'm mad keen to get on the bike at 6 weeks (only 3 to go, yay!).

Just wondering how do beta blockers affect your heart rate when exercising. I'm on 75mg of Atenolol, which I'm gussing will be dropped down on subsequent cardio visits. But does it cap your max heart rate ?

Cheers all.

 

[ccummins]

Oh yes, my beta blockers definitely affected my heart rate while exercising. I top out at about 130. And that is after strenuous cardio. I am only at 25 mg.

 

[acr]

Haha thats a difference, so I'll not get past 100 then! I have a follow up in a couple of weeks so we'll see if the meds get reviewed.

 

[SumoRunner]

Yes it will, but how much depends on the dosage. I'm taking metrolpolol and the theoretical max for my age is about 160. Roughly 220-age. I can push my max HR to well over 150 now, but I'm many years post-op. I couldn't have done that at 6 weeks or even 6 mos. It takes a long time before you can push the limits.

 

[tprice54]

Agree with my buddy Jack...it will have an effect...in fact, many of our limitations post op are because of the meds we take. It''s good to know going back to exercize what drugs you are taking and what they can do to your metabolism during a workout.

 

[acr]

Thanks, I'll take note of Jack's good counsel and won't rush. Once I'm back up and exercising I'll post some details on how I'm constrained (or otherwise) by my meds.

 

[Philip B]

Beta Blockers

Beta Blockers

Yes, the beta blocker meds are interesting when one is exercising. I could actually see when I would hit my "cap" while doing cardiac rehab.

-Philip

 

[JeffM]

Same. When I was on Metoprolol, I initially couldn't get my HR beyond 140s. Once I started getting back into shape, I was able to hit 160. I went off of it (over 2 weeks) and ws able to hit 175, which is pretty close to my pre-op max.

 

[Reddog]

Beta Blockers also Affect Rate of Conditioning

Beta Blockers also Affect Rate of Conditioning

One negative about beta blockers is that they also slow down the progress of your aerobic conditioning. You may get to the same level of conditioning, but it will take more time. (At least according to a previous cardiologist of mine).

Red

 

[SumoRunner]

Yeah, it takes me longer to get into fighting form now and longer to recover from a hard effort, but that's mostly due to age. My training cycle has remained pretty much the same for 30+ years. However, for many years post-op I shied away from competition and just sort of trotted through all my road races at 11 min/mile. I avoided doing intervals too until just the last couple years. I'm 61 and can crank out 400 meter repeats in 2 minutes whereas 25 years ago I'd do them in 85-90 seconds.

You can see a change in max heart rate after just one day of stopping beta blockers, but it's a dangerous move. There's a lot of documentation to say that going off them cold turkey has bad effects. Going off them completely takes a careful tapering off plan of a few weeks. You can still train just as effectively while having the BBs limit your HR, it's just the racing that will be slower.

 

[Debbie]

O.k., I have a question? Is it to strenous on the heart(our operated on hearts) to have our heart rate to be over 150 for a long period of time, lets say an hour?? My cardio says keep it at about 150, why should it not go higher??? Are our hearts more fragile because they have been messed with?? I'm on 25 mg. of atenolol and I can see a differance of 20-30 bpm when I excerise and I have'nt taken it. What has your doc's told you was max. HR?? Thanks Debbie

 

[kodi]

Sometimes I can't answer these questions since I'm not on any meds and don't know the effects other than what I read here. Typically your max heart rate is 220 - age. So if you are 50, your max HR should be about 170. This is variable depending on your physical condition. There are other variations for finding max HR but this is most acceptable. When working out your workouts can and probably should vary from easy to reasonably hard meaning you can work at anywhere from 50-90% of max. When they are closer to the higher range they are harder to hold for any extended period of time. BUT...the more you condition yourself to exercise at the higher rate the longer you can hold them. You should vary workouts with a hard day followed by an rest day, which means easy workout or cross-training or no exercise at all.
Hope this goes a little toward answering your question.

 

[tprice54]

Coach Kodi gave a good summation on HR. I can only add that my cardio has not given me any HR limits. I am only on an aspirin a day and 4 mg. ace inhibitor. He is treating me like a runner, and assumes I will train accordingly.

 

[Teresa]

Good topic-thanks for all your comments. Helped me out alot!

 

[Debbie]

Thanks Kodi, your answer was good, but that is for a normal heart that has not been worked on. I want to know if we should be more careful wiht our newly fixed heart and not do any damage to them. I want to do as much as i can, but I don't want to hurt my new valve in anyway by making it work too hard! So, is a fixed heart a healthy heart???? Debbie

 

[olefin]

Hi Folks,

I'll be 3 weeks out of surgery tomorrow. Just had a mad moment and went shopping on Amazon for a watch style HRM and have gone for a Garmin Forerunner 50.
Cheers all.

That's intersting.
I received one from Amazon few days ago. I got the Omron. Seems to work just fine. I been jogging and walking since 1976 but had never used a HRM before. My daily 3 mile walk in 45 minutes gets me up to about 80 to 85% of maximum.

Good luck with recovery, don't push too hard.

 

[kodi]

Thanks Kodi, your answer was good, but that is for a normal heart that has not been worked on. I want to know if we should be more careful wiht our newly fixed heart and not do any damage to them. I want to do as much as i can, but I don't want to hurt my new valve in anyway by making it work too hard! So, is a fixed heart a healthy heart???? Debbie

I am talking about my fixed heart here. My cardiologist never set any limitations for me.

 

[JeffM]

"Fixed heart" max.

"Fixed heart" max.

Debbie,

Bottom line should be follow your doc's advice. That said, I made a big deal with my cardio and surgeon before and after surgery about the fact that I wanted to resume, eventually, the ability to include max heart rate workouts in my training. I was told that would be no problem as long as I built up to it, which I did. I was maxing at about 4 months post op. I have intentionally done max HR workouts while on 24 hour and 5 day monitoring specifically so my cardiologist could see what my heart is responding, at least to the extent anyone can see it on an ECG. I asked if that would be OK and I was encouragaed to work out at maximum intensity. Again, exercise programs should be individualized, but unless you have ongoing issues, there should be no reason why you can't exercise at your maximum HR.

 

[Debbie]

Thanks Jeff, what do you shot for an average rate while exercising and your max. rate?? My cardio says don't go over 150. When I've been riding, after a few miles it pretty much says between 125-140 unless I don't take my atenlol and then I can't seem to keep it under 150. usually is 140-160. Also, I have had alot of fun riding, I'm riding now 2x' a week about 12 miles at a rate of 12-15 mph average.I'm wantingtokick it up and go farther-faster-harder-more hills, but I really don't want to hurt my heart. I guess I'm just worried for no reason, but my health is extreamly important to me and i don't want to mess it up just to do a few more miles. Let me know Debbie

 

[ChouDoufu]

O.k., I have a question? Debbie

my cardio set limits for the first month max 120, then the next two months
max 150. and now that i've completed the three-month checkup and show
no problems, i'm cleared for hr max.....within reason of course.

from what i've been told, we really can't damage the valve itself. valves are
made to last and can handle whatever stresses we give it. no matter what
we do, we "shouldn't" be able to damage the valve. the valve is inert, it doesn't
grow, so it doesn't get better. it's the suture site that has to be protected for
a certain time, as well as the rest of the heart that has to recover from surgery
and reshape after years of 'lopsided' pumping action.

for the time being....i going for a max of 160 while running, 140 while cycling. for the
running portion, i plan to try to keep under 160, while at the same time increasing speed
or distance. as to cycling, i can't get over 140, even up steep mountians, unless i
stand on the pedals.