Exercise and hypertension
Regular exercise is a must for you in dealing with your high blood pressure (also known as hypertension). Science is still by no means precisely sure as to why it does, but exercise brings both an immediate and long-term reduction benefit to almost all high blood pressure sufferers.
Just for your information here, be aware that a well respected study was published in ‘The American Journal of Hypertension’ demonstrating that blood pressure was reduced after just 20-minutes of treadmill walking. The high blood pressure of many of the people taking part was lowered for up to 5 hours after their exercise session. In some of the test subjects, the resultant pressure reduction lasted up to even 9 hours and overall the researchers discovered that blood pressure was consistently lower on exercise days.
What actually is ‘normal’ blood pressure?
Normal blood pressure is gauged at 130 over 85 or below (the optimal being 120/80). High blood pressure is considered to be 140/90 or greater. The highest figure is the systolic blood pressure, which means the amount of pressure in the blood vessels when a heart contracts and pumps blood. The lower number on the other hand, is called the diastolic blood pressure or the pressure levels remaining in the vessels between contractions, when the heart rests.
However, be very much aware here, that everybody is different and the old saying ‘rules were made for people, but people aren’t made for rules’ is one to bear in mind here! Find out what exactly is ‘normal’ for you, by taking your blood pressure for three consecutive days and getting the average reading. You might discover that 130/85 is actually at the hypertension stage for you, because your inpidual average reading might be 100/70.
Also bear in mind for greater accuracy of recording, that blood pressure is generally lower in the morning than in the evening, so set your times and keep to them on the days concerned.
Aerobic exercise and hypertension
Cardiovascular or aerobic type exercise, such as walking, cycling, dancing, jogging and swimming, will be the foundational rock of any exercise program prescribed to reduce high blood pressure.
Low to moderately intensive aerobic exercise can certainly lower your systolic blood pressure by 6 to 26 points and lower diastolic blood pressure by 4 to 16 points. Being a person suffering from high blood pressure, it will comfort you to learn that lowering your systolic blood pressure by only 2 mm Hg (this is the millimetres of mercury reading on your blood pressure monitor) will lower your risk of death by heart disease by 5%.
But bear strictly in mind, that the exercise levels you employ should be low to moderate intensity only, because this calibre of exercise only causes a very modest rise in your systolic blood pressure during the your session, whilst your diastolic levels should remain the same or go down slightly. Avoid high intensity aerobic work, as it can cause dangerously high increases in blood pressure levels amongst those suffering from hypertension. To get the best results for your cause, perform aerobic exercise three to five times week for 15 to 60 minutes and it definitely helps of course, if it’s something that you enjoy doing and not just ‘enduring’ for the sake of medical benefits!
Weight training and hypertension
High and low blood pressures can both rise pretty high during high intensity weight training / resistance training work, so if you’re going to do it, use only moderate to fairly light weights.
To help you establish what for you personally is too heavy; know that if you can lift a weight 12 to 15 times and still feel like you have a few more repetitions ‘in the tank’ if it was really necessary to do them, consider that to be your ‘light weight’ level. If you feel like you have nothing left to give after reaching your 15th repetition, then that for you is your moderate level. If you can only lift a weight 6-8 times and you’re truly struggling with that last 8th repetition, then that’s your heavy level.
Breathing properly while lifting and lowering any loads when weight/resistance training, be it machines or free weights, is very important. Apart from anyone performing a Squat for the legs, always exhale on the hardest part or the part with the most exertion. Remember the E on E phrase, which is ‘exhale on effort’ and never ever hold your breath whilst exerting, as it will cause your blood pressure to rise unacceptably high. As a hypertensive person, I would strongly recommend not doing the Squat for your legs, as the breathing technique is not at all suitable for a hypertensive inpidual.
If you do weight/resistance training twice a week as a complementary part of your total exercise regime, you need only perform two set of 12 to 15 repetitions for each body part.
Relaxation and stretching
Stretching exercises and other relaxing forms of activity like yoga and Tai-Chi have extensively proved their beneficial effects in lowering blood pressure. It is a good area for you to enquire about.
Lose weight with high blood pressure
Any increase in your weight will almost certainly equate to an increase in your blood pressure. Science indicates that a 10- to 20-pound weight gain can definitely increase your risk of hypertension, and if you already have it......escalate that situation! Every six pounds of weight gain over your established ‘normal’ weight, increases hypertensive risk by 12 percent. Exercise is very important because of its obvious role in helping to maintain normal weight levels.
Additional exercise guidelines
Your GP will have checked you out for the possibilities of other heart disease risks like elevated levels of cholesterol and triglycerides and consequently have given you a safe pre-exercise blood pressure range. If not, go back and make sure that he/she does so. Always check your blood pressure before exercising too and particularly in the initial stages of the exercise lifestyle you need to be adopting in order to combat your hypertension; skip working out on any day you see that your BP readings are particularly high.
Avoid any exercise positions that raise your feet above the level of your head, known in exercise language as ‘decline’ work, such as an abdominal crunch or sit-up done on an angled board.
Actual low blood pressure issues arising from rapid changes in body position is something known as ‘orthostatic hypotension’ and unfortunately, any anti-hypertensive medications you might be taking, makes you more susceptible to this. Consequently, always move reasonably slowly when you get up from any exercises you might perform on the floor.
Any Beta-blocker medications you might be taking will lower your pulse in the region of 10-12 beats a minute. This translates to more difficulty gauging your work intensity rate when using heart rate monitors on cross-trainers, treadmills and all cardio fitness machines, so have an awareness of this and the 10-12 beat margin. You can’t rely on the heart rate monitors you can strap to your chest either, so measure your intensity by how you feel. You should feel slightly breathless but still be able to talk, to a reasonable degree.
It’s very important to immediately get direct answers from your GP if he/she changes your medication and establish exactly how it might affect your exercise regime.
If you experience any abnormal physical effects during or immediately after exercise; (excess fatigue, dizziness, nausea, your face becoming unusually pale, or chest pains) stop exercising completely. Then, as soon as possible, report those symptoms to your GP and under no circumstances whatsoever, be tempted to exercise again before they’ve given you the go ahead.
Courtesy of Alan Gordon, the UK's leading Personal Trainer
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