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A simplified substitute for heart rate (HR) at the anaerobic threshold (AT), i.e., resting HR plus 30 beats per minute or a percentage of predicted maximum HR, is used as a way to determine exercise intensity without cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) data. However, difficulties arise when using this method in subacute myocardial infarction (MI) patients undergoing beta-blocker therapy. This study compared the effects of &alpha, &beta, blocker and &beta, 1-blocker treatment to clarify how different beta blockers affect HR response during incremental exercise. MI patients were divided into &alpha, blocker (n = 67), &beta, 1-blocker (n = 17), and no-&beta, blocker (n = 47) groups. All patients underwent CPX one month after MI onset. The metabolic chronotropic relationship (MCR) was calculated as an indicator of HR response from the ratio of estimated HR to measured HR at AT (MCR-AT) and peak exercise (MCR-peak). MCR-AT and MCR-peak were significantly higher in the &alpha, blocker group than in the &beta, 1-blocker group (p &lt, 0.001, respectively). Multiple regression analysis revealed that &beta, 1-blocker but not &alpha, blocker treatment significantly predicted lower MCR-AT and MCR-peak (&beta, = &minus, 0.432, p &lt, 0.001, 0.473, p &lt, 0.001, respectively). Based on these results, when using the simplified method, exercise intensity should be prescribed according to the type of beta blocker used.