I can’t figure out why lifting with less weights at higher reps would be any less strenuous on your heart / blood pressure then lifting heavy weights with lower reps.
If you’re pushing yourself you’re pushing yourself. Your heart and blood pressure will react accordingly.
This is why I don’t go to doctors. I just go to the gym.
That can be tricky. Heavy means different things to different people.
Mine said “go ahead, no problem” after a recovery/rehab period.
Then he said “Wait a sec. What is heavy?”
I said “about 350, 375, around there.”.
Then he revised and said he’d prefer if I held off a little longer and worked up to that very carefully.
So, yeah. Heavy to them could be a whole different thing than heavy to you.
From google search:
What should you avoid with a bicuspid aortic valve?
A person with BAV can help manage their condition by avoiding foods that contribute to heart damage and strain, such as products that contain excess salt, added sugars, and saturated fats. Individuals with BAV need to get regular, moderate-intensity exercise.Jun 19, 2024
The eternal paradox;
Is “heavy” a feeling or a percentage of your max?
Is “intensity” based on proximity to failure or on your heart rate?
It would seem so, at least in terms of applied stress is applied stress, but that’s not really the case within practical ranges.
Pushing yourself in the anaerobic vs aerobic zone demonstrably drives different cardiac modeling (chronic outcomes).
Bracing for a lift (i.e. the aforementioned Valsalva maneuver) increases blood pressure significantly higher than continuing to breathe through a lift (acute concerns).
The BAV is a congenital defect that is likely to take one’s BP higher anyway (through a stenosed aorta), so further increases really are a consideration. I’m certainly not a doctor, and am not trying to give medical advice; just pointing out that I’d really be pretty honest with the cardiologist about what your exercise plans are here.
Cardio bodybuilding. Nice.
If you can’t talk during the set you’re going too heavy.
I guess im always going too heavy
No one here but you and the doctor know anything about your personal situation. While many doctors do not know much about strength training, they certainly know a lot about risk. What amount of weight is worth a stroke?
Even if you can lift a little more weight with ten sets of three than three sets of ten, it’s not like you can’t gain size and strength with any reasonable rep scheme, and the latter might be better for hypertrophy. Much of the benefit from “Boring But Big” comes from the five sets of ten at 50% following the 5/3/1.
That said, this advice likely is arbitrary. I don’t do three sets of ten. The following links are not three sets of ten either. But I don’t see why you could not modify them, and give them a try. Or you could just do 5/3/1’s 3 Month Challenge just using the five sets of ten part at 50%, which is still pretty hard. I have no idea if these stick with the spirit of your medical advice, and would recommend you talk to your specialist before doing anything.
https://archive.t-nation.com/training/the-reg-park-way-to-serious-size-and-strength/
Well, they said that for exempel a heavy bench press would elevate my blood pressure to much. And yeah, what’s heavy for the doctor who I don’t know doesn’t lift might not be really heavy for me. As I wrote, I’ve been doing 531 with submaximal weights. I never go full 1 reps max.
I’m going to for a extra blood test before I can talk to the doctor. Hopefully I’m better informed on why one say no heavy lifting and one say go ahead.
And yeah 531 bbb and original 531 are some of my favorite that I always do. Besides 531 strongman.
I’m a LIT enthusiast. Some day I’ll have a hoard of people telling others that it’s the one true path to muscle growth.
Yeah. That can run it up to over 300/xxx.
I looked it up at one point, but can’t remember the details well enough.
In cardiac rehab when exercising at a moderate rate, mine has been measured at 180/xxx with pulse at around 130, while pedaling an airdyne. Cardiac therapist said that was fine and within range during cardio.
I don’t know what would be considered fine and within range for lifting with any given condition though. I know that rebound effect can be proportional though, and pretty harsh!
My puls is around 130 range when I’m lifting my heaviest set, but don’t know how accurate my watch was at taking the pulse.
Yeah, that may not be analogous though. In my example, I was riding an airdyne doing cardio. That gets the chambers pumping to full expansion to move volume of oxygen to the muscles.
In weight training the contraction and pushing the blood really hard is the main function. Thats likely where the concern at this point lies.
It gets pretty case by case specific. Like, I had damage done to the area of the heart that is fed by the circumflex and lower branches of the right coronary artery due to blockage. So once the tissue scarred and healed, I had to try to get as much flow and volume back as I could, typically measured as LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction) with some significant cardiac hypertrophy. So, because of the blockage, the muscle was contracting really hard to push blood through the narrowing artery. Like any muscle, it got bigger and stronger. Not in a good way. That hard pushing instead of smooth high volume pumping reduces the ejection fraction, which is measuring the difference of the left ventricle at full expansion vs. full contraction, expressed as a percentage.
Ideally one would want it to be like 75-80%. Thats like 100% fully opened, then it contracts, pushing the blood, by about 75-80%. Gives you a nice high volume pump of blood. With some damage and/or cardiac hypertrophy, depending on the extent and location- you might get like 40-60%, or even less than 40 but thats a big danger zone.
So thats the differences and problems that can arise from high blood pressure, and the heart beating harder to overcome stuff like hypertension or a wonky valve or other stuff that makes it harder to push.
And, thats just a laymans overview. I had to educate myself of the specifics of my own condition after the fact, in consultation with my cardiologist.
But there could be some early interventions that can really keep your life on track, albeit with a bit of temporary sidetracking, or if left unattended can change your life for the worse, permanently.
Wish you the best, truly.
I dont know man. My mother just had her second open heart surgery in 10 years. The instructions she receives from doctors is pretty bad. The diet and activity restrictions they recommended are downright counter productive. Its been infuriating trying to get her to break out of the mindset that doctors know everything. She’ll say that she cant eat cheese or eggs or salt, but that a bunch of refined flour and sugar is okay.
Anyway, id try to get as much details as possible. Ask the doctor what specifically will happen from blood pressure spikes when lifting “heavy.” How will your body respond and react? Will it not react the same from moderate weight but high intensity? Try to get specific biological descriptions of the why, and then make up your own mind.
Yep.
And that things can change. Like my initial instructions upon discharge were like no strenuous acyivity, no lifting more that 5 lbs. Don’t walk up steps.
Then cardiac rehab, and increased intensity and duration of exercise.
Then finally once everything was stabilized and copacetic, what ever I felt like- heavy lifting, loaded carries, hiit, what ever. All good.
Its like in phases. Diagnosis, treatment, management.
Very nicely done though!
Thank you. That really means a lot. I try to help out where I can.
Doctors do not know everything, and if the doctor does not lift, they probably know little about lifting.
On the other hand, no one here knows what the echocardiogram showed, whether there is pulmonary hypertension or edema or breathing and blood pressure concerns, what medications are involved and how well they are working, whether surgery is an option, whether there are comorbid problems or any related medical history, and many other things. Certainly not enough to safely contradict what may be very sensible advice.
Im wondering if any little trick that gets rid of a few pounds could take any amount of stress off the valve. A few less carbs, a little more cardio. My advice is probably terrible.