heart rate while exercising

[RyanOFelt]

I am having a bit of a debate with a friend of mine. It started with him claiming that "classical music is better when working out because it keeps your heart rate lower". Although I know many people training solely for strength believe in taking long rest periods to slow down their heart rate, I still have always believed that keeping my heart rate up through super sets and shortening rest times was very beneficial, not only because of the aerobic benefits (which isn't part of our argument) but because a higher heart rate equals more blood pumped, more dilation of blood vessels, and therefore more blood delivered to skeletal muscle tissue resulting in more nutrient/oxygen uptake. He argues that the opposite is true, and that blood flow is actually what fatigues your muscles, and therefore a higher heart rate makes for an inefficient workout. I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I had always believed that more blood flow meant more nutrients to the muscle, which explains why so many bodybuilders care only about getting the biggest pump possible. Even Louis Simmons has his guys at Westside Barbell doing more HIIT type workouts now. Anyway, any information someone could shed to bring a conclusion to this discussion would be much appreciated.

 

[ZiR RED]

Blood flow does not fatigue your muscles. Increased blood flow via elevated HR does not necessarily increase muscle size either - see Kaatsu training where flow is actually occluded.

Shorter rest periods and incomplete recovery seem to enhance sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, while longer rest periods and more complete recover seem to enhance myofibril hypertrophy.

During resistance, your muscles are working non-oxidatively, so its not so much the in-flow, as the out-flow of waste products that causes fatigue. During recovery, its the inflow of nutrients that are important, which is why active recovery (a la light cardio sessions on off days) are so effective.

The pump has nothing to do with muscular gains in size and strength. And I believe simmons uses HIIT work for conditioning, versus improvements in size and strength.

Also, while I enjoy working out to certain classicial music, I can't see it having any effect on heart rate during exercise.

Br