Mild Chest pain

I'll talk to my doctor about this too, but was hoping there might be someone else who can shed some light on this...

I'm 32, 5'10', 190 lbs. and I've just started excercising in earnest again after years of slothlike behavior. I am lifting weights 3-4 times a week and doing aerobic activity (30 minutes of biking or jogging) 2-3 times a week. I've been doing this for 3 weeks now and have already noticed improvement, so I'm hooked.

Today, during my 10 minute warmup on the treadmill, I pushed a little harder than normal in order to work up a good sweat befor lifting. I walked for 2 minutes, jogged slowly for 2 minutes and then got a good run going. About 2 minutes into my run, I started having sharp, very localized pains in what I can only guess is my heart. It reminded me of why I normally avoid strenuous aerobic activity. This isn't the first time this has happened. It seems that I get this pain anytime I do activity that requires really heavy breathing and taking quick breaths. It's been like this since I was about 20 or so. As a kid I was fine. Also, during tennis, baseball, basketball, lifting weights, I'm fine. Cycling too. Running just seems to kill me.

Is it most likely my heart or lungs that is giving the sharp pain. It's just to the left and a bit higher than my sternum. It freaks me out that it could be my heart, so I'll see my doctor. I just hope it's something that will go away as I get in shape.

Any feedback is welcome.

Al

You could be (but only your doc can find out for sure, so do NOT delay getting to see the doc) experiencing Angina (pronounced ANN-jah-nah), which is the pain that signals a portion of the heart muscle is not receiving sufficient blood flow. If the pain diminishes or goes away AFTER you warm up (90 to 240 seconds into exercise) which is when you are AT an elevated heart rate due to rhythmic exercise like your biking or jogging, then it is referred to as 'walk-through' Angina, and the lessening of the pain is due to a natural dilation of the coronary arteries at elevated work loads and increased body temperature. Do not stop, do not wait for the next roll of the dice to see if you pass GO - get to the doc, get a referral to a cardiologist and get a treadmill stress test with EKG - that is the ONLY way to get data about how your heart is responding to increased load. Do not waste money or time on a so-called heart scan - it only identifies calcified arterial plaque, and even then it give high rates of false negatives for coronary artery disease.

On the other hand, you could be experiencing a muscular pain induced by your new (and seemingly aggressive) resistance training routine - a sore pectoralis, or a sprain of one or more of the rib/sternum joints (there are 7 on each side of the breastbone) could give the sharp pain you refer to, but only an MD can say. Trust medicine - it saved my life.

Chuck Kaplan - age 55 - 2 years post-op quadruple coronary artery bypass graft - and 100% healthy (found the problem in time!)