Interval work + bèta blockers

[Moen]

I've posted this on some other boards as well but received no real answers. (which leads me to believe there are not (hopefully there is at least 1) many people out there who actually know the underlying mechanism of things)

Anyway, I copy paste my initial question:

For those of you not familiar with bèta blockers, greatly simplified for my question: they will limit your heart rate. (as in being unable to get it over 120 bpm or somewhere along that number)

My question now: would being on them make interval work useless since no matter what you do no high heart rates will be reached OR is it only the effort put in that counts (even at low heart rates)?

 

[loganb_football]

This is a question I've asked physicians and they can't even tell me. But heart rate is only one measurement of effectiveness. You have to also look at muscle fatigue, lactic acid build up, etc. Now you may not burn as many calories because of decreased performance, but I believe it is still effective.

 

[Moen]

Thanks logan, was exactly what I was thinking beforehand as well. (heart rate being only one component and the whole not necessarily being useless because of that)

So even physicians don't really know? Perhaps I was a little too hard on my internet brothers then

 

[loganb_football]

Yeah, the physicians I have talked to really couldn't tell you much other than the basic actions of the drug. You'll probably have a hard time finding anyone that can tell you unless they've done a study of some sort on this topic.

Even the EPOC would have to be taken into special consideration due to decreased hear rate...

 

[Quad-smack]

It does not make your intervals useless. Your heart rate may not go up, but aerobic and anaerobic metabolism occurs in the muscle. Beta Blockers will blunt your heart rate - which limits your cardiac output - which limits your physical work capacity. You are still conditioning the muscles to a workload.
Now, if you are counting on the increase in catecholamines that interval training will produce to burn more fat - then it is most likely that beta blockers will almost completely inhibit this process.

 

[maldorf]

It does not make your intervals useless. Your heart rate may not go up, but aerobic and anaerobic metabolism occurs in the muscle. Beta Blockers will blunt your heart rate - which limits your cardiac output - which limits your physical work capacity. You are still conditioning the muscles to a workload.
Now, if you are counting on the increase in catecholamines that interval training will produce to burn more fat - then it is most likely that beta blockers will almost completely inhibit this process.

I have to agree with this. You are still performing at a higher effort when you do the faster intervals, and you are doing more work. You are going to burn more calories and get conditioning to boot. Only thing is that you wont be able to see your full potential because of the drugs, but you will still make greater improvements IMO. I have tried comparing intervals to just one set speed on the treadmill and really felt like my condtioning improved much more doing the intervals. My endurance was better overall. My heart rate did peak a little higher during the intervals too, than in regular training but was nowhere near what it could have been. I am on 80 mg coreg CR/day.

 

[Moen]

Thanks guys. Any ideas on certain interval protocols being better for fat loss than others? More specifically I'm talking about tabata vs more extended (though less harsh) interval workouts

 

[loganb_football]

I would be more apt to do a longer interval workout than tabata if I was on beta-blockers. The reason more so relates to performance. Point being, performance on beta blockers will likely be hindered which makes tabata style workouts a little less effective. Longer bouts, in my mind, make the most sense.

 

[maldorf]

I would be more apt to do a longer interval workout than tabata if I was on beta-blockers. The reason more so relates to performance. Point being, performance on beta blockers will likely be hindered which makes tabata style workouts a little less effective. Longer bouts, in my mind, make the most sense.

I agree with this 100%