High Blood Pressure and the Benefits of Exercise
Here’s the simple truth – if you have high blood pressure then regular exercise will significantly prolong your life. Moderate exercise is a critically important part of maintaining good health. People who are physically active are less likely than their sedentary counterparts to develop chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and other heart or cardiovascular disease.
There is a strong link between physical activity and death rates. In particular, physical activity is associated with a reduction in the risk of death due to heart disease. The amount of physical activity that you undertake will predict your risk of early death even if you have multiple heart risk factors or if you already have heart disease. (Risk factors include having high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and smoking).
Many of us the Western World have a high risk of heart disease because of our lifestyle habits and our body weight. Many good research studies show at most risk tend to be more sedentary. Could this be you – do you fit this description? If you do then for goodness sake do something about it. Now! A recent research study looked at nearly a thousand American adults below retirement age.
They followed these people for eight years and collected a huge amount of data about their health and their lifestyle. The study found that those with risk factors for heart disease were about thirty percent more likely to die than the rest of the population. They were also more likely to live a sedentary lifestyle. Taking regular light or moderate exercise reduced the risk of early death by a dramatic amount.
What’s the message? We should all be more active. If you have high blood pressure, are overweight, have diabetes, a high cholesterol or are a smoker (or more than one of these risks) – then you need to increase your level of exercise. and start now. Your life, quite literally, depends on it!
How Exercise Affects Blood Pressure
Exercise is beneficial to the human body in many different ways and on many different levels. The beautiful part about beneficial exercise is that it does not have to be intense or boring, or even non-productive.
Mowing the lawn is beneficial exercise, and so is scrubbing the kitchen floor. As long as you are exerting energy at a level high enough to increase your heart rate and your breathing rate, the exercise is beneficial. Walking, swimming, and biking are all beneficial exercises that can be fun, too.
If you have been sedentary for awhile, it is very, very wise to check with your doctor before you begin even a moderate exercise program. It is also important to remember that you didn’t get OUT of shape overnight, and you won’t get back IN shape overnight, either.
Start slow and add to your exercise program slowly but steadily. For example, you might start by walking around the running track at the local high school one time and at a slow rate. Then you increase the rate a little. Then you increase the distance a little. You keep making little increases over a few weeks, and the next thing you know, you will be walking at a good clip four times around the running track in about 20 minutes. That is aerobic exercise.
Exercise (while you are doing it) increases blood pressure and heart rate. However, after you stop exercising, your blood pressure and you heart rate will be slower and slower than before you began to exercise. It is a good idea to take your blood pressure and your heart rate just before you exercise, again when you are through exercising, and then once more in about a half hour. You will see measurable results almost immediately.
Exercises to Lower High Blood Pressure
The risk of high blood pressure (hypertension) increases with age. And like it or not, you get older every day. But you don’t need to sit back and wait for high blood pressure to strike. Get moving! Regular exercise can help prevent high blood pressure, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. And if your blood pressure is already high, exercise can help you control it.
Most of studies these days found that most aerobic exercises that keep large muscles in use for long period like “workouts brisk walking” is good way for lowering blood pressure but it take several months. as a fact from the “National Institutes of Health conference” results, they found that aerobic exercise reduces resting blood pressure in people who have hypertension by about 11 points of the top number and 9 points of the bottom number and. That is sure enough to lower blood pressure to normal.
Walk, Jog or Run – Get out and get moving! Whether it’s a brisk walk, a steady jog or a long run, if it gets your heart going it’s good for you. If you don’t live in an area where it’s feasible to walk, jog or run outside, think about investing in a treadmill or go to the local gym to use one of theirs.
It’s not necessary to spend hours at the gym in order to benefit from the effects of exercise. In fact you don’t need to go to the gym at all. Taking a brisk walk, using the stairs or raking the leaves can all help to increase the blood flow through your vessels. At the same time don’t forget that your diet can make a big difference in your blood pressure. Avoid fried foods as much as possible and trim the fat and skin off meat. All this will help to reduce the build up of plaque and cholesterol in your arteries.
Aerobic Exercise Benefits High Blood Pressure
When you’re diagnosed with High Blood Pressure, your doctor will probably recommend a combination of lifestyle changes. When exercise is discussed, it will be “aerobic exercise” that helps reverse hypertension.
Aerobic exercise is: running, bike riding, or swimming laps. But all types of aerobic exercise have a positive effect on your Blood Pressure. Studies show that you don’t have to overdo it to get results, either. But if you’re already diagnosed with “Hypertension“, then aerobic exercise has shown to help more.
Your Blood Pressure numbers could drop anywhere from 6 to 10 mm Hg if you have hypertension. Those who already have healthy blood pressure numbers won’t see much change with added aerobic exercise, but it’s keeping problems further away.
Your age might determine how helpful aerobic exercise is, too. The older you are, the lower the chance that exercise will lower your systolic blood pressure. But both numbers matter, so make sure you’re developing a good lifelong habit! Read the article “How do you add exercise to your daily routine?” and contribute to cure your High Blood Pressure.
Is Aerobic Exercise Dangerous When You Have Hypertension?
If you’re worried about the common spike of Blood Pressure during exercise, then ask your doctor to ensure it’s safe for you. Usually there’s a normal level of increase and something considered abnormal, which could point to more deadly artery disease.
Those with definite hypertension already might be advised to take it easy, gradually increasing intensity as they get stronger. There are things you can do that could make things worse when it comes to aerobic exercise, such as over-exerting yourself. There’s no need to overdo it when moderate exercise works just as well, if not better. Make sure you use a heart monitor to see how your body is handling it.
Your doctor may have specific instructions about your aerobic exercise, depending on the overall state of your health as well as the medication that you’re on. And obviously, stop exercising if you experience chest pain, dizziness, or other severe symptoms that are cause for alarm.