Arnold Schwarzenegger

[scottvant]

Weightlifting is bad for your heart?

Weightlifting is bad for your heart?

tantenay sez: >>It's a fact that weight lifting is hard on the heart muscle. It can cause cardiomyopathy<<

So, my question is--is it bad for *everybody's* heart or just those already battling/trying to reverse things like existing cardiomyopathy, LVH, etc... I was always under the impression that resistance training was good for you. You're supposed to *breathe* on exertion (and not hold your breath like some people are prone to do)--I've known that for years (holding your breath=too much valsalva pressure on your aorta), but am wondering what this has to do with "athletic heart." (I.e. enlarged, low resting heart rate, etc...) My old exercise & sports advisor used to say that "athletic heart," altho it is made up of many of the same symptoms that would indicate heart disease in non-athletes, is actually not harmful if you got that way by working out, since if you stop, the condition reverses.

I was under the impression the cardiomyopathy I'm currently dealing with was a result of my aortic valve leaking for g*d knows how long, and not because of all those years of hitting the gym. Among people who haven't had open heart surgery, negative effects of weightlifting on your heart are unheard of--apparently for those of is with "heart conditions," it's bad.

Who knew?

Scott

 

[epstns]

Scotty, I think there is still the question of degree. I have moderate AS, pre-surg, and my cardios have advised that weight training with *light to moderate* weights is OK. They opine that 40-50 lbs. should be the limit. I know that this is not body-builder territory, but it does allow a man of my age (55) to maintain most of the definition I had as a younger man, just a bit smaller. I still jog about 4 miles, 5 days a week as well.

The docs' warning on the weights was to avoid heavies, as they will raise blood pressure and stress on valves without raising heart rate.

Just my $.02 . . .

 

[MarkU]

I'd have to agree that a weightlifting program based on high reps and light-to-moderate weights can be beneficial.
I spent a lot of time talking to my cardiologist about this after my AVR. Before my surgery I was doing heavy lifting, benchpressing over 300lbs and heavy leg presses and squats.
Since my surgery, I only do high rep/moderate weights (I now only benchpress 150lb) and have cut out the leg presses and squats completely. I lift 3 days per week and do 30-40 minutes of aerobic work 4-5 days per week. Following this regime for the past 24 months I have significantly reduced the LVH that I had developed prior to my AVR. Not saying that it would work in every case, but it's worked okay for me. Best thing is to talk to your doctor about your specific situation,.

Mark