Originally Posted by
Biker395
That is my theory too. I have read some of the medical articles about afib among endurance athletes, and the data is frustrating, as no one can seem to agree on what an "endurance athlete" is, but all conclude there is an elevated risk of afib among us.
I know a number of people with afib issues, and they do all have one thing in common. They are people who like to push hard all the time. If they are doing a double century, they are trying to complete it as fast as possible ... and ditto with any ride (all of which are training rides).
I only push that hard in races, and even then, try to pace myself. Does that mean I won't get afib? Who knows. But that is my theory and I'm sticking to it. And if I do get afib, I'll deal with it then.
Yeah, had to do a bunch of research a couple years back.
Doc said I had an enlarged heart and slight afib.
bunch o testing later.
Enlarged heart from endurance sports, not really a risk factor.
Same with endurance induced afib. No correlation with bad cardiac events. But you can have both bad afib and not bad afib.
Ejection fraction is the critical factor in both afib and over sized hearts.
Now, drug exposure, genetics, and history of electric shock exposure are all individual. Who knew electric shock would be a long term risk factor?
My max hr is in low 150's. But that's way over cooked. Really hard to recover for the rest of ride after hitting 150.