Strange Question ...

[musclemom]

First up, I'm a relative newbie. After six months of following a power lifting style routine (6 x 6, heaviest weights I could manage) I switched to a hypertrophic style routine (12 x 4, lighter weights).

I'm having the oddest thing happen and I don't even know how to search for it ... when I get a solid pump on certain exercises (usually sometime after the second set of whatever exercise I'm doing), my heart rate starts going through the roof, and the beating feels stronger. Is this normal??? This doesn't happen when I'm doing deadlifts (I'm still keeping them at 5 x 5), it's happening mostly with benchpress, standing curls, quad extensions. When I was doing the powerlifting style I really wasn't getting the kind of pumps that I'm getting now (it just sounds so weird, a chick talking about getting pumped ...) sometimes it feels almost like a charley horse cramp, you know?

Normally my blood pressure is about 118/78, resting heart rate of 68 ... my heart is getting up into the 140+ range (not really totally sure, I haven't got a watch in my weight room). I do cardio 5 days a week and kick my heart rate up that high on the elliptical or when I'm doing 4+ mph on the treadmill, but this feels somewhat different.

I'm 40, female, take NO medications whatsoever, and still menstruating so I'm not really worried about cardiac issues as much as wondering if this is a nutritional deficiency issue or electrolytic balance thing ... or is it just me and I'm weird?

 

[guest username]

More importantly, how long does your heart rate stay elevated after lifting? It should return to normal within about 90 seconds.

 

[musclemom]

Thanks for the response.

I've never formally timed it's definitely more than a minute and less than three (I almost never rest longer than then length of one song, most songs are three and a half minutes long) I normally use my heartrate dropping back to "normal" as a guide for resting between sets.

I guess it's freaking me out because I never had this happen with the powerlifting style set/rep range -- but I honestly didn't get a pump with the powerlifting style, either, so this is all new territory for me. Totally bizarre, lighter weights but higher stimulus ... wow.

I know, I sound like a total "Newbie" ...

 

[Eyes Open]

Thanks for the response.

I've never formally timed it's definitely more than a minute and less than three (I almost never rest longer than then length of one song, most songs are three and a half minutes long) I normally use my heartrate dropping back to "normal" as a guide for resting between sets.

I know, I sound like a total "Newbie" ...

Are you sweating when your HR is elevated like that? Are you experiencing the HR spike while doing the work or afterward? Are you breathing loudly or are you pressing your lips together during the effort?

The duration of your elevated HR sounds like normal response to a high intensity workload. HOWEVER, contributing factors to cardiac arrhythmias are: CNS stimulants, improper warmup, improper breathing, fatigue, anxiety, and illness.

 

[musclemom]

The duration of your elevated HR sounds like normal response to a high intensity workload. HOWEVER, contributing factors to cardiac arrhythmias are: CNS stimulants, improper warmup, improper breathing, fatigue, anxiety, and illness.

Well, the thing is, I saw my chiropractor today ... long story short, there was a problem with my ribcage that I wasn't even aware of (there was no pain). He gave me an adjustment that literally opened up my entire chest. It was like a knot unraveling in my sternum. Blessed relief.

Apparently I've been walking around for the past couple of weeks and my breathing has been constricted and I wasn't aware of it. I got home and took my blood pressure, both numbers had dropped by about 5 points.

Blew my mind.

I worked out and it was like a whole different world. None of the weird cramping pumps, no thundering heartrate. I'm still amazed.

I love my chiropractor !

Thanks all for the kind concern and good advice!

 

[Eyes Open]

It was like a knot unraveling in my sternum. Blessed relief.

None of the weird cramping pumps, no thundering heartrate. I'm still amazed.

Fascinating!! It's similar to breathing problems during running; the diaphragm may constrict the range of lung expansion.

Here's some phisiology on respiration and altered heart function:
The heart’s electrical conduction system: The Sino-Atrial (SA) node is the initial point of electrical impulse generation, causing the heart to beat at a rate of 60 to 100 beats/minute. The Bundle of His slows electrical conduction maintaining a rhythm of 40 to 45 bpm. The atrioventricular (AV) nodal cells produce a heart rate of 45 to 50 bpm.
Arrhythmias arise when the normal pathway is bypassed by ectopic foci in the atria and ventricles or when nodal cells are affected by ischemia (see below!), injury, or disease. Just as electricity flows from a generator to electrical wiring and powers various light sources and appliances, the heart has its own electrical generating system to ensure effective chamber contraction." Here's the whole article: http://www.nursingcenter.com/prodev/ce_article.asp?tid=461602
Ischemia (is-KE'me-ah) is a condition in which the blood flow (and thus oxygen) is restricted to a part of the body. Cardiac ischemia is the name for lack of blood flow and oxygen to the heart muscle.
Ischemia often causes chest pain or discomfort known as angina pectoris (AN'jih-nah or an-JI'nah PEK'tor-is). Here's the important info: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4720

I would definitely get a second opinion to rule out any other causes for restricted blood flow, such as narrowing of the veins!!

 

[musclemom]

I would definitely get a second opinion to rule out any other causes for restricted blood flow, such as narrowing of the veins!!

Well, I'll keep it in mind but the way I see things, if the problem in any form was still lingering it would be a cardiac or vascular issue, whereas to me it was a mechanical thing. The problem was focused in the rib that runs right across my heart and your citations pointed out about the heart's natural electricity and that electricity is still fired by the CNS.

What I THINK was happening what that I was very slightly oxygen deprived because my lungs were not operating at full power. The increased demand placed by the weight training, coupled with my blood being diverted to the muscles that were working, had my heart working double overtime to oxygenate my blood because less blood was being oxygenated. The muscle cramping pump was because the muscles required more blood for sufficient oxygenation.

I mean, I could be wrong, but that's kind of what I think was going on, and it fits the symptoms. I didn't have chest pain, per se, just VERY fast and forceful beating.