Concerned, Heart Rate Down

[Justin332]

Hey guys, I'm in week 11 of a test e/var cycle and am 218lbs (from 199) and body fat has gone from 14% to 12%

I am in a hotel right now and jsut got off the treadmill after being literally unable to get my heart rate above 130.

Before this cycle (my 1st), I was easily able to get it up to 140 and beyond if I wanted to. Right now, I'm struggling to get it up to 120.

Is this normal? I know Var makes you sluggish but what about your heart? Does this sound dangerous to you?

[WARMachine]

Monitor your blood pressure bud.

Take readings somethn like 3 times a day, everyday.

[Justin332]

What will my blood pressure tell me?

[WARMachine]

lol your Blood pressure.

In general, your heart rate will go along with blood pressure. Though not always.

The body has several feedback mechanisms to maintain adequate blood flow and blood pressure. If blood pressure decreases, the heart beats faster in an attempt to raise it. This is called reflex tachycardia. This can happen in response to a decrease in blood volume (through dehydration or bleeding), or an unexpected change in blood flow. The most common cause of the latter is orthostatic hypotension (also called postural hypotension). Fever, hyperventilation and severe infections can also cause tachycardia, primarily due to increase in metabolic demands.

[Justin332]

So is it normal to have a lower heart rate doing cardio? I will admit the var has mad eme very lethargic.

[WARMachine]

Well no. Generally speaking, any exercise causes your heart rate to increase.

[Justin332]

It is increasing when I exercise, it's just nowhere close to the levels I was at with the same effort. I'm struggling to stay above 125 where I was easily hitting 140 before cycle.

[WARMachine]

... I really dont have an answer for why thats happening bro.

Ill bump this is no one has an explaination, but perhaps you should talk to your cardiologist.

[Twist]

are your legs sore or were they trained recently?
weird but this actually happens to me when I work legs and just can't run fast enough to get my heart going because my legs are fatigued

[Justin332]

are your legs sore or were they trained recently?
weird but this actually happens to me when I work legs and just can't run fast enough to get my heart going because my legs are fatigued

No, my legs are not sore.

[lovbyts]

Are you training the same as before or harder? If you have been training good your heart rate should be down compared to before if you are not putting out MORE effort (running harder, faster, longer) than before.
Try raising the incline and running faster, what happens?

[TRA]

Agree with lovbyts. If you're training cardio, and have any intensity at all, you'll be improving your cardio base. Your resting heart rate will go down, and it will be harder to get it up to the same levels as before without increasing the difficulty. If you're in good shape, hydrated, etc., your blood pressure will also fall along with your heart rate as your cardio improves (depending upon the effects of the "sups" you're on.

The time to start being concerned about a low heart rate is when you start having a noticeable arrhythmia (skipped beats, extra hard beats, flutters, etc.) because the rate is so low, you get light-headed when you stand up or exert, or you drop below 40-50, depending upon your fitness level.

I used to run 2-3 hours/day on trails, and my resting heart rate in the a.m., before getting out of bed, was as low as 39 sometimes. It usually ran around 50-55 during the day. Some of it was genetic, the rest was due to the cardio fitness. But I had a shitload of pvc's (extra heart beats) due to the low rate.

Check your resting heart rate in the morning, before getting out of bed. See what that tells you about your fitness level. If you're low due to cardio, you can try more exertion on the cardio equipment, but it's hard when you're used to a certain level, eh. High intensity intervals on the stair stepper should also tell you how the heart rate responds. That jacks my rate quickly even when I'm fit as hell.

The only real thing that would prevent your rate from increasing would be something like taking a beta blocker (blood pressure medicine), aside from the esoteric cardiac conditions.

Any other probs, or just the rate? If you're trying to burn fat, the lower rate won't hurt you anyway, and it will keep some glycogen in your muscles instead of burning it all.

[Justin332]

Agree with lovbyts. If you're training cardio, and have any intensity at all, you'll be improving your cardio base. Your resting heart rate will go down, and it will be harder to get it up to the same levels as before without increasing the difficulty. If you're in good shape, hydrated, etc., your blood pressure will also fall along with your heart rate as your cardio improves (depending upon the effects of the "sups" you're on.

The time to start being concerned about a low heart rate is when you start having a noticeable arrhythmia (skipped beats, extra hard beats, flutters, etc.) because the rate is so low, you get light-headed when you stand up or exert, or you drop below 40-50, depending upon your fitness level.

I used to run 2-3 hours/day on trails, and my resting heart rate in the a.m., before getting out of bed, was as low as 39 sometimes. It usually ran around 50-55 during the day. Some of it was genetic, the rest was due to the cardio fitness. But I had a shitload of pvc's (extra heart beats) due to the low rate.

Check your resting heart rate in the morning, before getting out of bed. See what that tells you about your fitness level. If you're low due to cardio, you can try more exertion on the cardio equipment, but it's hard when you're used to a certain level, eh. High intensity intervals on the stair stepper should also tell you how the heart rate responds. That jacks my rate quickly even when I'm fit as hell.

The only real thing that would prevent your rate from increasing would be something like taking a beta blocker (blood pressure medicine), aside from the esoteric cardiac conditions.

Any other probs, or just the rate? If you're trying to burn fat, the lower rate won't hurt you anyway, and it will keep some glycogen in your muscles instead of burning it all.

Thank you for the thorough replies. I just feel more fatigued, but they say that's common with var. Just feel really tired

[Justin332]

My resting heart rate right now is about 57. I just woke up and measured it.