Hypertension And Exercise
Exercise to Reduce and Control Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is an ever present medical condition, where the arterial blood pressure is raised. The presence of high blood pressure tends to increase with age but although medication is available in the vast majority of cases, there is a way, perhaps the most natural way of all, that one can use to help reduce and control chronic hypertension. Some may think of it as a dirty word but it is Exercise that can help lower your blood pressure and keep it at a manageable level. So where is the connection between exercise and high blood pressure?
So What Actually Happens When You Exercise?
Broadly speaking, exercise will help to make your heart strong and a strong heart will not struggle to pump blood around your body. When the heart uses less effort to pump blood, the loads – the pressure in other words – on the arteries is reduced thereby lowering the blood pressure. In many instances, planned exercise can work better than medication in reducing blood pressure and equally exciting, regular ongoing exercise can help keep future raised blood pressure at bay. Even if exercise cannot produce the full required reduction in blood pressure, it will often facilitate lower doses of medication, which of course is a good thing.
Exercise – Your Weight – Your Blood Pressure
Regular exercise helps you to maintain a healthy weight, but to realize the benefits, you need to exercise on a regular basis. and at the risk of stating the obvious, only regular ongoing exercise will enable you to continue enjoying these benefits in the future.
What Type of Exercises?
Aerobic exercises, commonly called “Aerobics”, are said to be the most helpful exercises when it comes to exercising your heart. as you exercise your heart the most and usually with least risk compared to other exercise regimes. There are many different types of exercise for reducing and controlling blood pressure and weight lifting is a good example. Although resulting in increased blood pressure initially during a weight lifting session, the overall effect is to reduce and control blood pressure. There are many other forms of exercise available of an aerobic nature including cycling, climbing stairs, walking, swimming and jogging. These are good examples of undemanding yet highly helpful exercises, where you have control over the pace. Some of them even lend themselves to your being able to listen to your iPods or watch TV, making the task even more acceptable!
Precautions
One crucial thing you must do prior to commencing an exercise program is getting the go-ahead from your doctor. It is also sensible to consult your doctor if you are on any medication to check whether exercise will affect its efficacy or possibly produce unwanted side effects.
Always perform stretches prior to commencing your exercise session as this will help avoid pulling muscles or straining yourself and make sure you start your exercise slowly with a gentle warm up for a few minutes. Discontinue the exercises if you experience shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, chest pains, dizziness or faintness. If this does happen, you would be wise to go back to your doctor and discuss what occurred.
Don’t Get Dehydrated!
Don’t forget to keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water as you will lose a lot of water through perspiration, which must be replaced. This is vital..
It is sensible to check your blood pressure before commencing your exercise session and note down the reading. It is also a good idea to take a blood pressure reading at the end of your session, when you will probably find you have lower pressure than when you started. We have written separate articles as to what are acceptable blood pressure levels.
What Type Of Blood Pressure Monitor?
There is a huge choice of home blood pressure monitors available and for affordable prices, additional features being the main cause for pricevariations rather than superior or inferior accuracy. An automatic digital blood pressure monitor is an ieal choice but at least one retailer we know will give you a free basic monitor if you buy one of their other products!
As an aside point-of-interest, you may find that when you take your blood pressure at home, you achieve a lower reading than the doctor’s. This doesn’t mean you got it wrong! It is more likely due to “white coat hypertension” It is believed that this is caused by the anxiety some people feel when undergoing a medical clinic visit.
Summing Up
If high blood pressure is an issue for you, just about the cheapest and easiest method you will find to lower and control your blood pressure is exercise.
