With the whole Internet raging about the super curative effects of exercise for high blood pressure, should you jump into the gym and try out just any workout? No. Some of these exercises may be dangerous if you have high blood pressure.
Caution is of the essence when exercising if you have high blood pressure. The intensity, duration, or distribution of your exercise regimen are worth considering if you are hypertensive.
Before we dive into the exercises to avoid if you have high blood pressure, how does your blood pressure typically respond to exercise?
It is not abnormal for blood pressure to rise when you perform sustained physical activity, like exercises. However, these hikes in blood pressure don’t last long in healthy people.
Upon the termination of exercise, cells relax and blood pressure slowly slides down to normal levels. However, for people with cardiovascular handicaps, their blood pressure is impeded from readily returning to normalcy after exercises.
As set by the Centers for Disease Control, normal blood pressure level doesn’t exceed 120/80 mm Hg.
This means a diastolic pressure reading of under 80 mm Hg and a systolic pressure reading under 120 mm Hg.
Now exercises hike systolic blood pressure. The latter measures blood pressure level based on artery pressure due to the contracting of the heart muscle.
Unusual hikes in blood pressure – ranging over 190 systolic in women, 210 in men, and exceeding 110 diastolic in both genders – can trigger exercise hypertension.
Because of such hypertensive responses to exercise, what exercises should you avoid and go for when you have high blood pressure?
It is no classified secret that different exercises have varying impacts on your body, specifically blood pressure. Therefore, it is recommended that you avoid high-intensity exercises compressed into short periods.
Consequently, significantly physically-exerting exercises like weightlifting and sprinting are no-nos for people with high blood pressure. There is the tendency of these exercises to heap substantial strain on your blood vessels and overall cardiovascular system.
The list of extreme sports to avoid if you are hypertensive extends to scuba diving and squashing.
Of course, not all exercises are on the red list if you are hypertensive. Introducing aerobic exercises!
Hypertensive people are encouraged to spruce their exercise regimen with aerobics. Without excessively exerting your cardiovascular system, these exercises will enhance your heart health while improving your lungs and blood vessel capacity, thanks to their rhythmic and iterative patterns.
The bulk of aerobics work the predominant muscle groups in your body. Such muscular clusters include the muscles in your arms, shoulders, and legs. Examples of readily executable aerobic exercises beneficial for hypertensive people are swimming, jogging, walking, and even dancing. How jolly!
The timing and intensity of these exercises matter a lot.
It would be best if you progressively built momentum when executing aerobics. With this in mind, it is recommended that you begin your exercise sessions with briefer exercises with lesser intensity and gradually ramp things up.
The mistake – admittedly dangerous – many people with blood pressure make is unnecessarily accumulating their exercise regime.
Such excessively stacked regimens not only strain your heart and blood vessels but also amplify the risk of musculoskeletal hazards like muscle tears, dislocation, and sprains.
As long as you can maintain consistency, anywhere around 30 minutes of aerobic exercise would suffice for a day. But you don’t have to complete such 30-minute therapy rapidly.
If you don’t have time, you can slash such an exercise regimen into shorter 10-minute sessions spread across the day. Five times a week will do the job.
The trick here is maintaining consistency. Strict daily scheduling will make your exercise regimen more muscle memory, meaning you would require less discipline or willpower to get out and grind.
Of course, you would dread your daily exercise sessions if they were drained of entertainment. So deliberately induce spice and fun into your exercise session so there is the thrill to look forward to every day.
For extra accountability, you could get an exercise partner to keep you up when your mental tanks of motivation are reading empty.
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