Beta Blockers and HRM-

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Jazzyjules71
Jazzyjules71 Posts: 150 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am on a beta blocker, and know my heart rate is about 15 bpm lower than it used to be.

Can anyone tell me, does that affect how many calories I burn? Or is my HRM just going to think I burned less, but really I will burn as much as if my HR was 15 beats higher?

The bottom line is, I'm wondering if my HRM is accurate if I am on a beta blocker.- or should I assume I always burn a little more. Does anyone know?

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  • jackiemonx
    jackiemonx Posts: 343 Member
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    if your on beta blockers or any heart or blood pressure medication then the heart rate moniters are a waste of time as they wont truely reflect how hard your heart is working.
  • ablykins
    ablykins Posts: 200 Member
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    Answer
    from Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.

    Beta blockers slow your heart rate, which can prevent the increase in heart rate that typically occurs with exercise. This means that it might not be possible for you to reach your target heart rate — the number of heartbeats per minute you should have to ensure you're exercising at the proper intensity level. No matter how hard you exercise when taking a beta blocker, you may never achieve your target heart rate.

    There's no precise way to predict the effect of beta blockers on your heart rate. An exercise stress test, which checks blood flow through your heart while you exercise, can measure how hard your heart pumps while you're taking beta blockers. Your doctor can use information to adjust the target heart rate you should work to.

    You can also try lowering your target heart rate by the amount that your resting heart rate has been lowered by the beta blocker. For example, if your resting heart rate has decreased from 70 to 50, then try working at a target heart rate 20 beats per minute lower than what you used to do. This way of calculating your adjusted target heart rate isn't precise, and sometimes the peak exercise heart rate is affected much more than is the resting heart rate. An exercise stress test is the best way to establish a new target heart rate on beta blockers.

    If you haven't had an exercise stress test, you can use a perceived exertion scale, such as the Borg scale, which relies on your own judgment of how hard you're working based on effort, breathlessness and fatigue. Ask your doctor for help finding and using an exertion scale. For most workouts, your best bet is to aim for moderate intensity.

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    In addition to that- a HR monitor MAY work for you if you get the type that tracks your calorie burn based on YOUR body stats and resting heart rate. Even then, you may face challenges with getting an accurate, true reading of your caloric burn. Also, unfortunately, all of the built in calorie counters on cardio machines at the gym really won't be accurate for you. Hope this info. helps!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Beta blockers will decrease the calorie number on your HRM, not the actual calories you burn. That's because an HRM doesn't measure calories, it makes assumptions based on heart rate. Since your heart rate is now artificially lower, the HRM thinks you are not working as hard, so it gives you a lower number. Since you still ARE working as hard, your calorie burn is still the same--it's the HRM that is now inaccurate.

    It's not quite that simple, since beta blockers can also affect VO2 max, but since the topic is HRMs, the answer is simple as I described above.
  • Jazzyjules71
    Jazzyjules71 Posts: 150 Member
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    Thanks everyone.....and Azdak, that's exactly the information I was looking for. Thanks. I will consider this when I log my calories burned.

    I'd love to hear about the beta blocker effect on the VO2 max too......if you're interested in sharing!
  • auranda
    auranda Posts: 59 Member
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