Is there such a thing as a hard heart beat? (as opposed to a fast heart beat)

Question

I've picked up weight lifting recently and the thing I've noticed is that it really gets the heart pumping. After a heavy set of squats for instance I can hear my heart beating in my ears and feel it beating in my chest.

However my heart rate monitor says that, while it's increased, it's not that much faster than normal. My heart rate is far faster while riding a bike, but it doesn't beat as 'hard' then.

Why does it feel like my heart is beating harder in these cases? Why is it different to beating faster like when doing cardio exercises? Would this 'harder' heat beat burn more calories than a normal strength heart beat at the same bpm?

Answer 1

It is more likely to be related to your blood pressure, which is one of the reasons of Pulsatile Tinnitus (heart beat sound in the ear), during exercise. Weightlifting may cause a temporary increase in blood pressure. This increase can be dramatic, depending on how much weight you lift. It is not dangerous if your pre-exercise (or resting) blood pressure is not 180/110mmHg.

Focus on breathing

Also, there is an old but good article about it.