Beta Blockers and Exercise Intensity

In this video, clinical exercise physiologist Nick Pratap goes over exercise intensity for patients who are taking beta blockers.

[@rjarias2011]

be CAREFUL with Metroprolol Succinate.About 2 months ago my cardiologist raised it from 75 mg to 100mg (once a day) .A month ago I had an episode of dizziness after long walk .And 2 days ago I passed out while cycling WITHOUT warning (no nausea,no dizziness,etc) Ended up in the ER with 7 stitches on my face and several bruises on my chest,arms and legs.Thank God no broken bones or teeth & also thankful I wasn't riding on a busy road .My doc said to go back to the old dose of 75 mg right away.Hope this helps !

[@mikesullivan6422]

I have Afib i take metoprolol 100 mg 2times daily also amiodarone hcl 200 mg and digoxin as well 125 mg and diltiazem 360 mg all that knocks me down to a point where its hard to do anything

[@jeremiahhull7180]

The talk test is the way to go, especially for clients who don’t push themselves. Appreciate the video

[@garyolson2676]

I had bypass surgery in 2013 and have ridden 11,000 miles on my bike. I am a former endurance athlete and enjoy moderate to hard cycling. I’m 74 years old. I developed an atrial flutter several years ago, and after an ablation the electrophysiologist allowed me to stop taking my beta blocker. Unfortunately, in 2020 I developed AFIB. It was horrible. I could not exercise, developed symptoms of heart failure. A cardioversion restored sinus rhythm for a year, and I went back into Afib. This time I had an ablation, which again worked for nearly a year before I went back into Afib. This time, they hospitalized me, started me on dofetilide and did another cardioversion. I lost an entire season of riding and became totally deconditioned. I’m riding again, but when I take metoprolol 12.5 mg, I cannot get my heart rate above 100 and am gasping for breath riding. If I skip a dose, I can get my heart rate up to an average of about 112 and am comfortable with my breathing and, more importantly for me, the average pace of riding - about 12 mph with 600 feet of climbing over an out-and-back 15 mile ride. My blood pressure is very good, and my resting heart rate is right around 50 bpm. But I am hating the metoprolol! I’m having trouble thinking about continuing it, and don’t really see the benefit given my overall condition. I’ll talk to a cardiologist, but it is very frustrating!

[@nextgenrehab]

It can be very frustrating being on the beta blocker and trying to increase heart rate! But remember, this medication is helping to better rate control your A-fib. Instead of going off heart rate, use the talk test as a measure of intensity. If you can talk you're in a good zone, if you can no longer talk, slow your pace down. If you can sing a song or whistle, increase your intensity.

[@dennisconroy3459]

Becareful when exercises while on Betta blockers..Be mindful the Betta blockers reduce the supply of energy, by blocking the liver and pancreas according to the strength of dosage that you are consuming. This also aplies to your heart muscle contractions, this reduction is due to the flow of calcium, potassium sodium injection in and out at the cellular, level. Just to simplify calcium injection is reduced according to dosage level. The less calcium means weaker muscle contractions, and the whole of the muscle is weaker and sicker. Do not overload a sick muscle. And a body which has reduced energy to it's ownself.

[@inscoredbz]

My Dr put me on it because after I got COVID I developed pots syndrome. He gave it to me to keep my heart from going from 70 bpm to around 120 bpm in just a few seconds. Now I'm having a hard time working hard or getting exercise. My heart rate doesn't seem to want to get high enough for what my body needs and I get light headed and bad nausea. I'm sick of this crap. I'm 51, overweight and out of shape. Having anxiety and panic attacks don't help life either.

[@nextgenrehab]

I would follow up with your doctor especially if you are get lightheaded and nauseous. Instead of focusing on heart rate when exercising, you should use the talk test. You should be able to speak when exercising. If you can't speak, you are pushing yourself to hard and should reduce your intensity.

[@victorl.mercado5838]

Thank you so much. This is exactly what I was looking for.

[@Primal391]

I notice no one ever talks about lifting weights with a goal of building muscle- 9-12 set per body part. It’s always about running and target heart rate. I just want to pick up weights for 10-15 reps and put it down, rest for 2 minutes, then do it again. Is this some type of rare request? So odd… I got the clear to workout and will be testing this out soon. I already started doing my Liss cardio and no problems at all there.

[@nextgenrehab]

Resistance training is an important part of any exercise routine, especially for heart patients. The goal is to target the major muscles of the body. Depending on your procedure ie: open heart surgery, having a stent put in, implantation of a pacemaker etc, it's important to speak with your doctor to see if there are any specific exercises you should avoid for a period of time after the procedure. If there are no restrictions, then adding in resistance training 2-3x/week is recommended.

[@Primal391]

@@nextgenrehab thank you for the reply. i was already weight training 5-6 days a week on body split weight training type program before my life changed. Two weeks ago i went into AFib at only 48 years old. So far no heart issues have been found and i am supposedly in perfect health otherwise. I am on 25mg Metoprolol twice a day with a 81mg aspirin once a day. I will talk to an EP in a couple weeks and hopefully maybe i can get off medication and try a different method. as fyi in addition to weight training, i only do 150 minutes of low intensity steady state cardio a week. I do the minimum possible lol. I just keep my diet fine tuned to stay around 12-14% body fat. I always hear heavy endurance training can cause afib, but that isnt me. I just am unlucky i guess.

[@nextgenrehab]

​@@Primal391 Continue to follow the guidance from you EP regarding your medication. Diet, exercise and maintaining a healthy weight will all be important factors in managing the A-fib.

[@eddiespagetti8395]

Weight resistance is best training period. Wise to lift.

[@darwinamodia9588]

good day sir im 45 yrs old and im taking cardiosel od my question is is the end of my cycling training and racing? pls. sir thanks, take care always

[@steffystrailmix3797]

So is it dangerous to push your exercise? I’m a long distant hiker and when going up some mountains, I worry about my heart. My heart pounds so loud in my head and it worrisome, I tstop for 15 seconds and I’m ready to go again. Is that normal?

[@nextgenrehab]

The intensity comes down to your overall conditioning and health. It does get stressful on the heart to stay in a very hard training zone for long periods of time with no recovery. I would bring up the heart pounding you described to your doctor as they would have a better understanding of your medical history.

[@catecurl3790]

Thanks Nick for this clarification. Years ago, my BP medication resulted in dreadful coughing fits. Of course it was time for a change. I discussed beta blocker concerns with my GP. My new BP medication was successfully implemented however I did struggle upon exertion. Long story short, my own investigations led me here. To you. Most information I find is somewhat sketchy, imprecise. Yours casts enough light so as to illuminate WHY I had such difficulty. Much clearer now. 💡😁

[@nextgenrehab]

@@catecurl3790 Im glad you found the video helpful!

[@Amit__863]

Hlo sir. I am runner, and doing hard workout secessions from 2 years. I am preparing for 1500m running. Can I use beta blocker for increase performance. please tell me how much dose I can take.🙂❤️❤️❤️

[@nextgenrehab]

Unless prescribed by a physician, you would not need to go on a beta blocker to increase your performance.

[@missusw1]

In short - NO. Beta blockers REDUCE performance. That's the point of them. They were designed for heart problems where the heart needs to reduce its workload in order to function more normally. Do not take beta-blockers unless prescribed by your doctor for a properly diagnosed condition.

[@1Mssimplybeautiful]

My Dr. Has me on 100mg (once a day) Metoprolo succ I feel ok while excercising, except when I cycle at home and the intensity is a little higher then my heart pounds so I just slow down and then I'm fine but my question is does this affect female sex drive ? I feel like I have the female version of E dysfunction.

[@nextgenrehab]

It can have an effect on sex drive.

[@1Mssimplybeautiful]

@@nextgenrehab well is there anything I can do while on this beta blockers? Or is there nothing I can do about it

[@nextgenrehab]

@@1Mssimplybeautiful I would recommend following up with your family doctor. They may be able to change the dose or the medication itself.

[@Matteo24-]

I noticed similar sexual side effects myself on Metoprolol. My doctor switched me to Bystolic, and it had a positive effect on sex drive and performance due to it increasing nitric oxide in the body.

[@1Mssimplybeautiful]

@@Matteo24- I tried to tell my doctor but he seems to not care or maybe he isn't knowledgeable enough to have mine stitched which is super annoying because my husband thinks it's him and it's not it's the Metoprolo I'm taking

[@fullyholly1]

Hello,I have a ICD was at the gym the other day and I was on a machine similar to the Nordic track Front drive series was using it for a month for 15 min, yesterday my ICD shock me and threw me off the machine after 12 min, was I going to hard. My meds was change to SOTALOL HCL80 mg .My doctor told me to keep doing my exercise. Any Advice you can give me .. Thank-you

[@nextgenrehab]

Your ICD is normally set to shock you at a specific heart rate. Typically you get a warning before the full shock of the ICD. It sounds like you recieved a full shock which means you most likely will need to reduce your intensity of exercise. You should speak with your doctor on what your ICD heart rate threshold is, and maintain a heart rate below this. As a precautionary, have your ICD interrogated to make sure you didn't go into an arrhythmia like Ventriular Fibrillation or Ventricular Tachycardia.

[@fullyholly1]

@@nextgenrehab Thank-you Nick,I recieved no warning. They told me the warning sounds like the British ambulance sir and they let me hear it .The Doctors interrogated my ICD and made some setting changes and different med. I Will go back to the Gym in 7 days. I felt no pain from the shock...Thank you for the reply.

[@danishsajid4382]

can I push my hair harder while lifting while on bisoprolol 2.5mg?? my doctor is giving me my bo fluctuations due to anxiety.

[@missusw1]

I'm on Bisoprolol for arrhythmia and it's reduced my resting heart-rate by 24bpm. I have a background in athletics and decades of heavy exercise. I did OK on Bruce protocol treadmill test and did reach max HR but I was ill for days afterwards. I can train to about 50--60% of what I used to. TBH, there are better meds for anxiety, I'm surprised your doctor chose a cardiac selective beta-blocker, the side-effects can be awful and they're very difficult to get off of. Depending on what/how you lift you might find yourself light headed/breathless if you push it. On Bisoprolol your heart is weaker and slow to respond to demand and will not feed your muscles with sufficient blood during a spike of heavy activity. Run upstairs, see how you feel. I get to the top feeling OK, then a minute after I'm gasping; it's weird, everything's delayed and very slow.