Heavy Lifting and Heart Health

[stef]

by CJ Gotcher and Austin Baraki

We frequently hear and answer people’s concerns about resistance training and cardiovascular health in general, including claims that barbell training “doesn’t do anything for the heart” and that “you’ll give yourself a heart attack if you don’t do some running, too.” Since the heart is just a wee bit important to our health, and since no one is looking forward to their next heart attack, it’s important to address these concerns.

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[JohnW]

Your article is an order of magnitude better than Brooks and Fahey on this subject. An excellent addition to the literature. Thanks

[David Bilbey]

by CJ Gotcher and Austin Baraki

We frequently hear and answer people’s concerns about resistance training and cardiovascular health in general, including claims that barbell training “doesn’t do anything for the heart” and that “you’ll give yourself a heart attack if you don’t do some running, too.” Since the heart is just a wee bit important to our health, and since no one is looking forward to their next heart attack, it’s important to address these concerns.

Read article

I have children with left-ventricular non-compaction (and VSD). I wonder how significantly this diagnosis affects the risks associated with lifting. Have you found any research on this?

[Christopher Anderson]

Great article! It's mind boggling that there are people who say that weight training doesn't do anything for the heart and refuse to even try to understand how it works.

[Adam Skillin]

Really great work, guys. An invaluable contribution to the excellent array of materials that have been made available to us as lifters and coaches.

[Austin Baraki]

I have children with left-ventricular non-compaction (and VSD). I wonder how significantly this diagnosis affects the risks associated with lifting. Have you found any research on this?

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy is a relatively recently discovered condition and is still under research.

I have treated one patient with this condition who had severe heart failure as a result, but the condition apparently has a range of phenotypes and can be completely asymptomatic in some. I doubt there is much research looking at resistance training in this population, and am therefore unable to provide any specific insight there.

[David Bilbey]

Noncompaction cardiomyopathy is a relatively recently discovered condition and is still under research.

I have treated one patient with this condition who had severe heart failure as a result, but the condition apparently has a range of phenotypes and can be completely asymptomatic in some. I doubt there is much research looking at resistance training in this population, and am therefore unable to provide any specific insight there.

I assumed there wasn't much research on this. Thanks for the reply!

[kins]

I just had a cardiology appointment today. The cardiologist told me I shouldn't be lifting heavy weights and the valsalva over time puts too much pressure on your heart. Told me that if I was younger and in my 20s it would be fine, but older people should not be lifting heavy weights and that I should concentrate on cardio. I should have gave the doc a link to this article. Not about to sit there and argue at my appointment though. I will continue to lift heavy weights.

[Grundsey]

I have a couple of questions. I'm 61, soon to be 62, with some heart issues. I have an irregular heart rate (small pre-beats) that my cardiologist says is A-fib, along with some relatively minor leakage of the aortic valve. My blood pressure is good. I'm on a statin due slightly high cholesterol and carvedilol for the a-fib. My current lifting and also my long term lifting goals are pretty modest in comparison to most of the posters on this board. I am wondering if there is any benefit to getting and using a lifting belt, or whether that would not be a good idea considering my heart condition. A second question is whether anyone knows of any articles relating to the use of a belt for lifters with heart issues.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

I have a couple of questions. I'm 61, soon to be 62, with some heart issues. I have an irregular heart rate (small pre-beats) that my cardiologist says is A-fib, along with some relatively minor leakage of the aortic valve. My blood pressure is good. I'm on a statin due slightly high cholesterol and carvedilol for the a-fib. My current lifting and also my long term lifting goals are pretty modest in comparison to most of the posters on this board. I am wondering if there is any benefit to getting and using a lifting belt, or whether that would not be a good idea considering my heart condition. A second question is whether anyone knows of any articles relating to the use of a belt for lifters with heart issues.

Grundsey, are you lifting now? If so, are you using the Valsalva?

The afib issue has been addresed before. It is not, in my opinion, a contraindication to lifting. Because of the arrhythmia and the carvedilol, you may have some limitations on your ability to mount an appropriate tachycardia in response to a bout, and because of the loss of the "atrial kick" you probably have some decline in cardiac output. My guess (based on very limited experience and ZERO peer-reviewed, well-controlled data, because d'ain't none) is that this MIGHT occasionally make you feel fagged or dizzy BETWEEN sets....or it might not.

The aortic insufficiency is another story. Depending on the degree of insufficiency, the Valsalva and belt might increase regurgitant flow. I cannot speak to the acute or long-term effects of this. The problem with AI is that it significantly increases afterload....and so does Valsalva and, I would imagine, the belt. If you tolerate this increase in afterload during a bout (say a heavy set of squats)....well, then you tolerate it. Would this episodic increase in afterload worsen the AI or result in an increased rate of untoward cardiac remodeling? We just don't know.

You pays your money and you takes your chances. Sorry I don't have more for you.

I would be interested to know what an internist named Austin Baraki might have to say about this, aside from his brilliant stock reply: "What are you going to do? Not train?"

This post is provided for ejumacational and infotainment porpoises only and does not constitute medical advice for any particular person, patient, disease or condition. Sully is not your doctor and not your coach, and very smart people like marenghi and quad and meshuggah will gladly tell you that he doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. You should listen to them. Sully is full of shit, and he kills people in the gym all the time. He'll kill you too if you're not careful. Just by reading this post you have put yourself in Grave Danger. And besides, everybody knows you shouldn't be lifting weights anyway, even if you DON'T have a heart condition. What the fuck were you thinking?