can beta blockers help exercise be more efficient?

Hi all,
Doc just put me on 25mg of atenolol due to (very infrequent) ventricular tachycardia, and I just had my first workout. About me - 55 y/o, 6’1", 175lb, avid daily exerciser my whole life. I’m way too stiff, is my only complaint. Stretching and yoga are hard to even do because its like my muscles tighten against the stretches so I can’t really lean into it. Meditation and hydration help, and overall its not that big of a deal.

My first impression of the atenolol was that it hit me like a muscle relaxant, my neck feels way looser and I’m much more relaxed, which is all good.

Here’s the quandary: before going on the atenolol I was going for 20 minutes on the elliptical each day using an interval routine, with heart rate intervals of 133bpm up to 150bpm then back down, and “distance travelled” was 1.9 miles according to the machine. Well after my first workout on atenolol (today) I did the same thing except my heart rate ranged only from 120 to 130, while my speed was much higher, distance traveled was 2.05 miles, and I really sweated a lot.

So contrary to what I was expecting, my performance was higher with less effort, calories burned were higher too. Can someone explain this? The only thing I can think of is that since I am more relaxed perhaps my breathing is deeper, and with looser muscles perhaps I’m not wasting unconscious effort on inner constriction and muscle tension. I thought beta blockers would cause me to go less distance per workout, not more. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited at the moment. Thanks

Johnny

Beta blockers and exercise have some similar effects on the body.
Blood pressure and heart rate are similarly changed by exercise and beta blockers.
When you become exercise-trained your heart slows and your blood pressure lowers. It doesn’t mean you can take beta blockers in lieu of exercise. Exercise has many other benefits and is important to maintain your health.

Never force a stretch. Move into it until you just start to feel the stretch and hold. After a few seconds the muscle should relax and you can gain a bit more.
Never stretch to the point of strain or pain. The muscle will shorten to protect itself.

I was told by a hospital sponsored cardio trainer that the beta blockers do improve the effect of a workout. It seems counter intuitive to me too that medically forcing your hear rate to slow down while physically pushing it to speed up would be a good thing.
Sorry, I can’t explain it.

I finally had to adjust my beta blocker meds because it would take me sometimes 20 min just to get my heart rate up to the point where it would allow me to work out. Any attempt to warm up quicker would bring on rhythm abnormalities.
With new meds I work out now at a slightly higher rate but my warm ups are quicker.

Thanks for your advice. I understand what you are saying and have been told that by others. What happens with me is the “muscle will shorten to protect itself” effect kicks in almost immediately, with just the slightest stretch, the way it might if your body was in a state of fright. Back when I used to take ibuprofen (I now have stomach issues and can’t tolerate it at all), I was able to stretch like you say and over time could loosen up. Maybe the atenolol will help the looseness.