Regular Exercise and
High Blood Pressure Monitoring

How do you deal with hypertension? One way is to continue with regular exercise and high blood pressure can be controlled.

You may be thinking, “Easier said than done”, but think again! How often have you felt good after having enjoyed some fun with family or friends playing ball or some other physically tiring game? Did you find that the feeling of well being lasted for some time leaving you thinking, you ought to do this more often? Then why not do it more often and vary your activity so that it does not become a chore or bore.

Different exercises are normally diagnosed by some doctors for different patients depending on levels of hypertension, fitness, physical stature, and medication. As in the case of Resistance Training. Folks who take up walking, Cycling , jogging, swimming, and dancing to lose weight discover that these forms of exercise are enjoyable and very effective.

Before you start your program, be aware that you will only start seeing real benefits at about 6 – 8 weeks of exercise and high blood pressure monitoring. During this time your diastolic and systolic pressure probably will have dropped 5 – 10mmHg if you are developing a regular pattern.

If you are suffering from pre-hypertension, by now you should be in the normal pressure level range. Don`t loose the momentum! You will notice that your workouts will become much easier after 2 or 3 weeks into your new routine of exercise and high blood pressure levels will be dropping.

Great! Congratulate yourself by awarding yourself a new tracksuit or something else to encourage you to keep up the exercise and high blood pressure reduction program until it becomes a habit hard to break.

Research has shown that exercise of moderate intensity is best for reducing systolic and diastolic pressure. What is moderate? Well, if you can do exercise without getting too out of breath but at the same time you have to exert yourself a little, then that is moderate. It`s a measurement of about 60% of your maximum ability.

Aerobic exercise is said to work the best because it increases breathing frequency, giving the muscles more oxygen to burn calories for energy.

I used to go to an aerobic class where you could have a choice of high impact aerobics or low impact. I think the low impact would be more suitable for those with high blood pressure, because it is more gentle yet effective for raising oxygen intake.

Using public transport, walking or cycling is better than driving your own vehicle, because it increases physical activity, adding to your daily exercise and high blood pressure reduction program. So try leaving the car at home if you can walk or cycle to the shops. Don`t take the lift, but rather use the stairs.

If you work at home and your office is near the kitchen or on the same level as the kitchen, relocate the office to a room upstairs, or walk to the park and have lunch there. Use your initiative to suit your own circumstances and look for ways to be as active as you can.

Something To Be Aware Of

Not all exercise will produce the results you want. In fact, certain exercise can raise the blood pressure and be helping it stay up if it is done regularily and as a habit. Anaerobics is such an exercise that is done in short spurts. It can be strenuous but does not produce good results.

The reason being that the cardiovascular system is not actively engaged long enough for it to benefit from the effect of larger volumes of oxygenated blood that the muscles demand from aerobic exercise. (e.g. running, swimming, walking for 20 or more minutes.) See Swimming Exercise, Good For The Heart.

In addition, aerobic  exercise done for 20 minutes without getting puffed out, tones up the cardiovascular system, causing arteries to work more efficiently to accommodate the larger volume of blood, whereas anaerobics do not because as noted above, the cardiovascular system is not actively engaged long enough.

See High Blood Pressure – Diet Agaist It. by Dr. James Scala. page 221.

Cardio Exercises

Your heart is a muscle and needs the right exercise to keep it strong and pumping high volumes of blood. From this Health and Physical Fitness site, you can pick out some exercises to suit you. You don`t have to do all of them. Be selective and choose one that will fit your stamina and fitness level.

Do talk with your doctor about incorporating an exercise and high blood pressure monitoring program. He or she will be only too happy to support you when they see that you are taking responsibility of your own health through lifestyle changes.

Your family also can join in, giving their support by participating in activities mentioned at the beginning of this article.

Exercises for Obesity

We are all aware that overweight and obesity are a direct link to hypertension, but the thought of exercising with that excess weight can be defeating and present a challenge. But there are gentler exercises that will prove more beneficial if that`s your problem. See my page on Exercises for Obesity to see what they are.

Garry Long

A good example of courage and driving force is seen in Garry Long. You can read all about Gary`s story at his website www.afatmansjourney.com.

Garry was suffering from diabetes, congestive heart failure, enlarged heart, high blood pressure and acid reflux. His weigh-in then was 380 lbs.

Garry was at a point in his life when he made the decision that enough was enough. He thought if he didn`t do something soon about his weight problem that was having a heavy toll on his health, he would not be around for much longer.

He became inspired to walk across America after learning about a 410 lb man Named Steve Vaught from California who had taken on this amazing fete because he too, wanted to lose weigh and regain his life.

Near the start of Garry`s walk in his journal entry 2/3/06,he actually gains more strength everyday. That`s encouraging to those who may hold back if they think that an exercise and high blood pressure monitoring program will be exhausting work. It`s quite the opposite! Garry, just kept to what was reasonable for his fitness level and it paid off. He felt good and, no doubt, that encouraged him to carry it through.

After 3 months of walking Garry eventually was able to be weighed in at 350 lbs, entered in his journal 3/2/06. He had lost 30 lbs, that`s an average of 10 lbs a month.

This is an excerpt from 4/1/06 of Garry`s journal which I thought must have excited Garry. –

“Now 41 lbs lighter and able to walk 12 – 14 miles a day carrying 50 lbs and my health improving everyday, my Doctor gave me a green light to continue walking like this and is very excited about my progress. He had to adjust my medicine because I don’t need as much any more.”

Well done Garry! You are an inspiration to us all.

To keep himself motivated, Gary would often say, “Keep on walking one foot in front of the other”, but if you want to keep the weight of permanent and keep the blood pressure down, lasting-weight-loss.com encourages you to start your journey with the reminder, “one step at a time”. They offer free e-courses and practical information to help you succeed!