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Beta Blockers & Exercise

Virtually all beta-blocking drugs prescribed for hypertensive and cardiac disorders lower the heart rate response to exercise. It is important to understand the heart's response to exercise will be blunted while on beta-blocker medication.

  1. Beta Blockers Effect Heart Rate

    • Beta blockers block the effects of catecholamines through out the body. These catecholoamines are the "flight or fight" response our bodies produce during stress. By blocking these hormones it will also reduce resting, exercise and maximal heart rate, key statistics in determining exercise intensity.

    Adjusting Your Maximum Heart Rate

    • Beta blockers slow your heart rate, which can prevent the increase in heart rate that typically occurs with exercise. As a result, no matter how vigorously you exercise when taking a beta blocker, you may never achieve a normal "target."

    An Exercise Stress Test

    • An exercise stress test is an excellent tool to provide a new target heart rate due to beta blockers. This test can evaluate your exercise capacity and provide information on which to base an adjusted target heart rate.

    Use Resting Heart Rate

    • Try lowering your target heart rate by your new resting heart rate, the one that is now lowered due the beta blocker medication. If your resting heart rate has lowered from 80 to 60, then when exercising aerobically your target heart rate should be 20 beats per minute lower than what it was prior to taking the beta blocker medication.

    Borg Scale Of Perceived Exertion

    • Another appropriate, safe method to use to determine exercise intensity while on beta blockers is the Borg Scale of Perceived Exertion. It is usually based on a point scale that ranges in numbers from 6 to 20. It is based on the physical reactions one person experiences during exercise. One should aim for workouts to fall in the rating between 12 and 14.

    Additional Exercise Tips

    • In the beginning, check your blood pressure before and after exercising. Remember to keep your body fully hydrated before, during and after your workouts, do not strain or hold your breath during exercise, and get up slowly from any floor exercises. If weight training, utilize circuit training rather than lifting heavy weights, keeping weights low and repetitions high.

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