Help understanding my echo test

[traininsane11]

I recently had an echo test but I don’t understand it and in relation to me aka enhanced bodybuilder etc

I will post the results below any questions please asks

Any advice welcomed

 

[TheOtherOne55]

if you upload this to ChatGBT you will get a better response than anyone here can give

 

[traininsane11]

if you upload this to ChatGBT you will get a better response than anyone here can give

This is what I got back which doesn’t sound to good


So… is what you’re doing ‘enough’?

Here’s the honest, fair answer:

It is enough to give you a good chance of stabilising and possibly improving these findings.

But:

It is NOT enough to simply assume everything will be fine without cardiology follow-up and structured monitoring.

Why?

Because your EF is 44% — that is not something we just “watch and hope” with lifestyle alone.

You still need:
• Cardiology review
• Likely a 12-lead ECG
• Possibly cardiac MRI
• Possibly ambulatory BP monitoring
• A repeat echo in 6–12 months to assess change

This isn’t because you’re in immediate danger — it’s because this is the stage where intervention can actually make a difference.

⸻

What would make me much more confident about your outlook

If over the next 6–12 months you achieve:
• Bodyweight meaningfully lower than now
• BP consistently < 130/80 (ideally close to your current numbers)
• Continued CPAP use
• Regular, steady cardio
• Sensible training (less all-out Valsalva grinders)
• Periodic true cruises rather than long blasts

…and your repeat echo shows:
• EF improving into the low–mid 50s
• LV wall thickness stable or slightly reduced
• LV volumes not increasing
• LAVi stable or reduced

Then I would feel genuinely optimistic that your trajectory has turned in the right direction.

⸻

What would worry me (not saying this will happen — just for clarity)

Your current plan would not be enough if you:
• Stayed 290–300+ lb long-term
• Kept pushing heavy axial lifts to the limit year after year
• Treated cruises as “mini blasts” rather than real down-regulation
• Let BP creep up, even if still “normal-high”
• Became inconsistent with CPAP

That’s the path where these echo findings tend to worsen over time.

⸻

Bottom line

You are doing most of the right things.

But with your specific echo results, “doing the right things” needs to be paired with:
• Proper cardiology assessment
• Objective BP monitoring
• And a genuine, sustained reduction in cardiac load over time

If you commit to that, your chance of keeping — and even improving — your heart health is much better than average for someone with your size and history.

 

[Swifto]

You have impaired ejection fraction (EF) of 44% which isn't great. Range is 55-70%.

 

[Swifto]

Is this your first Echo?

 

[traininsane11]

The 3 main issues on your echo

1) Your heart pump is a bit weak
• Your ejection fraction (EF) = 44%
• Normal is ~55–70%

Simple meaning:
Your heart isn’t squeezing quite as strongly as it should.

⸻

2) Your heart muscle is a bit thick
• Both walls of your left ventricle are mildly thickened (1.32–1.35 cm)

Simple meaning:
Your heart has been working under too much pressure/load for too long.

⸻

3) Your heart is a bit stiff when it relaxes
• Mild diastolic impairment

Simple meaning:
Your heart doesn’t relax and refill as smoothly as it should between beats.


In one sentence:

Reduce your bodyweight, keep BP low, use CPAP, do steady cardio, and avoid extreme strain in the gym — that’s how your heart gets better.

 

[tommyguns2]

I got an ECHO this past fall and my EF was also low. As my BP has been stubbornly on the high side, despite being on losartan, they added Jardiance and metropolol. In combination, these three drugs do a nice job of improving EF. I'm hoping to be above 50 this year (with good diet and regular cardio, of course)

 

[traininsane11]

Is this your first Echo?

Yeah my first one

 

[traininsane11]

I got an ECHO this past fall and my EF was also low. As my BP has been stubbornly on the high side, despite being on losartan, they added Jardiance and metropolol. In combination, these three drugs do a nice job of improving EF. I'm hoping to be above 50 this year (with good diet and regular cardio, of course)

My BP always seems good 110-120/60-70

 

[Fleezy]

are you on BP medications?

my last EF was like 52%. but that's before my adenoma removal surgery, and a lot has changed as a result of that whole ordeal

 

[traininsane11]

are you on BP medications?

my last EF was like 52%. but that's before my adenoma removal surgery, and a lot has changed as a result of that whole ordeal

I’m not prescribed any but I use Telmisartan and Nebivolol but my BP is pretty much the same before I added them in

 

[Swifto]

Book an appointment with a cardiologist and go down to TRT? Find out what the issue is.

Everyone is different, but that wouldn't be giving me the green light to push drugs and bodyweight further.

 

[traininsane11]

Book an appointment with a cardiologist and go down to TRT? Find out what the issue is.

Everyone is different, but that wouldn't be giving me the green light to push drugs and bodyweight further.

Yep pretty much the next move it seems

May be time to implement my 10 year from now plan of calling it a day on BB and just get fit, lose a load of weight and try and remain healthy .

Way earlier than I would of hoped and before I achieved any of the goals I was aiming for but sometimes just the way it goes we shall see

Absolute kicker if that is the case but better of that than dead

 

[Swifto]

Yep pretty much the next move it seems

May be time to implement my 10 year from now plan of calling it a day on BB and just get fit, lose a load of weight and try and remain healthy .

Way earlier than I would of hoped and before I achieved any of the goals I was aiming for but sometimes just the way it goes we shall see

Absolute kicker if that is the case but better of that than dead

I think only a cardiologist should tell you what to take/not but the below may be useful and probably what I'd run with 44% EF.

Ubiquionol 600mg/ED
Pycogenol 200mg/ED
D Ribose 5g 2-3x Daily
Omega 3, 5g/ED
L-Carnitine Inject, 1000mg/ED

 

[Fleezy]

Yep pretty much the next move it seems

May be time to implement my 10 year from now plan of calling it a day on BB and just get fit, lose a load of weight and try and remain healthy .

Way earlier than I would of hoped and before I achieved any of the goals I was aiming for but sometimes just the way it goes we shall see

Absolute kicker if that is the case but better of that than dead

better to be a peeled and aesthetic af 210lbs who is still healthy as a horse


rather than a 290lb monstrosity who is in heart failure and can't go up a flight of stairs and is going to lose all his muscle anyways.


that Jon Skywalker kid comes to mind... burned the candle at both ends and now he's done, barely into his mid 20's IIRC

 

[the_unit]

These results are in keeping with a dilated cardiomyopathy

 

[traininsane11]

better to be a peeled and aesthetic af 210lbs who is still healthy as a horse


rather than a 290lb monstrosity who is in heart failure and can't go up a flight of stairs and is going to lose all his muscle anyways.


that Jon Skywalker kid comes to mind... burned the candle at both ends and now he's done, barely into his mid 20's IIRC

Well yes but I’m not in heart failure and I don’t really think my results make it appear as if I am or if I’m heading towards that?

According to chatGPt it’s going to be easy to keep on top of and maybe reverse whilst still pursuing my bodybuilding ambitions

It may well be wrong but I don’t think I’m anywhere near heart failure or certainly hope not

 

[Fleezy]

Well yes but I’m not in heart failure and I don’t really think my results make it appear as if I am or if I’m heading towards that?

According to chatGPt it’s going to be easy to keep on top of and maybe reverse whilst still pursuing my bodybuilding ambitions

It may well be wrong but I don’t think I’m anywhere near heart failure or certainly hope not

correct. i am sure you will be fine.. im just saying


seems like you are doing quite a bit to maintain your health already between keeping your BP under control and taking nebivolol... but the fact that you're at 44% with this precautions being taken.. im not an expert by any means, but i find it concerning

 

[Sectør]

Out of curiosity. Did you have any symptoms or concerns (like shortness of breath, heart palcipations, or chest pain) that prompted you to run the tests which ultimately determined low EF%?

Or was it just a routine scan, and you found the results surprising?

 

[massephase]

By no means giving medical advice (!). But - I have been to a very good cardiologist after having been diagnosed with mild heart failure, which this would clasify as, as far as I understand.

He measured my LVEF at rest at 48%. Then he made me get up and do 5 squats, lie down and measured again and it went up to 59. He then told me that a HF patients heart would not respond that way and that I simply have a low EF at rest.

Make of that what you will. I have had several echos months apart now showing an EF between 48 and 59. So every other time I went to a cardiologist they told me I have heart failure and the next time at a different cardiologist, they told me I was fine. Same with the hypertrophy. It has been measured from normal size to borderline hypertrophic. One cardiologist said I was fine, the next said it was worrisome, then fine again, then worrisome again.