PVCs/PACs & weight lifting

[Bob120]

I have been experiencing PVCs and PACs for about a year. I have passed monitor and stress tests.
It appears that my PVC and PACs increase in frequency if I lift weights, although it has taken me a while to correlate the weights and the PVC/PACs. I do not experience any pain in my chest. I'd like to resume weight lifting, but everytime I do my PVC/PACs increase.

On this forum in May of 2002 stakan posed a question answered by arthur which seemed to correlate sore chest muscles and PVCs in spite of doctors not agreeing. Has any further knowledge come out in the forum?

[Pooch96]

too have PVCs when I lift weights.  I went to my cardiologist ran tests got a clean bill of health but the PVC persist. I cut out caffeine completely, cut down on alcohol, and reduced stress but to no avail PCVs continued.  So I decided to stop lifting and going to the gym for 2 week, after week one miraculously the PVCs stopped completely. So to further test it I went back to the gym slowly increased back to my normal routine and within a couple of days the PVC were back again. I hope this helps, but I think I can say for sure my PVCs are directly correlated to lifting weights especially after I do a chest workout.

[2210485]

Chest day is the worse then leg day?

An increase in pvcs on leg day would be a concerning sign, but it could be explained.

On the other hand, I cant explain an increase during chest exercise.. Unfortunately aggressive treatment is the only thing really effective at reducing pvc quantity.

[jzinckgra]

Another PVC sufferer here. I too get them sometimes when I lift. I think the added chest pressure and straining causes some vagus nerve stimulation. After lots of tests and cardio doc visits, they give me the all clear, so I just go about my business (including cycling) and try not to focus on them (very hard).

[fred256]

I seem to have increased PVCs when I lift weights. I would suspect that lifting weights depletes potassium, magnesium, and/or calcium which could increase PVCs. Or that the weight lifting increase gut motility which puts more pressure on the vagus nerve, which can cause PVCs. I doubt that it is chest soreness that is the cause, but I do think there is some kind of relationship between weight lifting and PVCs.

[wardboy]

Hi Bob
Sorry I can't offer any professional advice with this post. I just wanted to mention that I'm also suffering from PACs that I've attributed to chest muscle activity. I don't get many PACs a day, but I definitely get them if I do something that exerts my upper chest muscles, even if it's just being slumped forward in front of my computer. The one thing I've noticed that causes the PACs without fail, is raising my head and upper chest from a lying down position, like sitting up in bed, for instance.  

I've spent ages searching online but have not yet found anything that connects heart function to chest muscles. I did find a rather vague study from 2007 linking neck muscles to blood pressure and heart rate but that did not provide anything other than a bit of a lead.

I'll post a follow up if I find anything helpful.