Oh jeez. You try to do anything with respect to exercise or nutrition, and you’ll find out it’s bad for you. Recently I heard that straining during lifting can mess up those ol’ heart valves!
I’m not a big lifter. I do Pilates and some free weights. About the biggest “lift” I do is bench press, mostly with a machine because I usually don’t have a spot. I also do other chest exercises, such as dumbbell press on an an exercise ball and of course pushups.
I can “bench” about 250 on the machine. Around where should I start to get worried, in theory?
I don’t know, but strenuous exercise could be counter-productive if you feel you are doing too much of it. I would be very cautious about anything that may not be good for the heart.
I think OP may be talking about issues when a lifter doesn’t breathe properly while performing a lift.
See Valsalva maneuver -Valsalva maneuver - Wikipedia
If you are ‘valsalvaing’ (is that a word?) yourself by closing your glottis, you might want to work on your breathing technique. I always get mixed up if it’s inhale on the lift and exhale on the drop, or the other way around, so I usually just switch it up.
I do not know enough to make any comment as to whether lifting may or may not damage heart valves, or what weight limits would be safe for you.
And, of course, if anything doesn’t feel right with your heart while lifting, please see a doctor.
The purpose of the Valsalva maneuver is to increase abdominal pressure and thoracic rigidity. This is especially important in big lifts like deadlift and squat and is critical for lower back safety. You generally want to take a big breath and hold it during each rep.
Interesting, I’ll certainly look into this more. Anecdotally, I can’t find any references to someone actually having a stroke as a result of utilizing the Valsalva maneuver but there are plenty of cases of people injuring their backs as a result of poor lifting form stemming from a weak back or poor thoracic rigidity and pressure.
It was eons ago, but in high school, Coach said NOT to hold your breath while lifting. Ideally, breathe as normally as possible, not synchronized with the lifting, but synchronizing wasn’t a problem. But definitely not holding your breath. I don’t recall whether he even gave the reason, but it does make sense to me that it’s less internal stress.
Of course, you may be able to lift more weight holding your breath, but the point was to lift for health, not to win competitions.
In any case, bench pressing more than one’s weight is a laudable achievement. IIRC, we had the 100 club for anyone who could. I think Coach was the only member of the 200 club. He was a little guy but strong as all heck.
I’ve been lifting for 45+ years and lifting heavy most of that time, my heart valves haven’t exploded. To some degree I think almost every form of physical exertion takes its toll on the body (even the forms that might improve overall fitness / health probably inflict some minor damage that heals up but maybe can accumulate poorly over time etc.) Blood pressure does spike during lifting, especially if you’re not breathing properly, I’ve heard that can lead to problems. I’ve also heard that lifting can help lower your non-lifting blood pressure, too, though.
The best way to breathe is to breathe normal. The timed breathing isn’t the best, but for people who have a natural tendency to hold their breath during the strenuous part of a lift timing your breathing in a given pattern/cadence may help you break that habit and get you on the path to just breathing normal during lifting.
I think that some level of breath holding is natural when attempting to lift a heavy weight. Even toddlers do it, as well as grunting - Planet Fitness no grunting rules be damned.
FWIW the American Heart Association Guidelines for resistance training in the presence of heart disease do advise against it for those with include “unstable angina, uncontrolled hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥160 mm Hg and/or diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mm Hg), uncontrolled dysrhythmias, a recent history of congestive heart failure that has not been evaluated and effectively treated, severe stenotic or regurgitant valvular disease, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.” They also state that individuals should learn “correct breathing patterns to avoid straining and the Valsalva maneuver.”
How big is the risk from that? I doubt anyone knows buthere’s a pretty comprehensive article about it if you are interested.