Exercise and hypertention have always been linked together; the former helps combat the latter.
Focus on the importance of exercise has increased as more and more people now suffer from elevating blood pressure levels. It’s a known fact that several factors in today’s lifestyle and society contribute to the increase in people at risk of hypertension and other diseases related to it such as coronary artery disease and stroke. While some people suffering from hypertension may be tempted to retreat to resting and decreasing movement, doctors actually advice against this. In fact, hypertensive patients are advised to maintain physical activity up to the level they can comfortably achieve.
Is this safe? This is the first question that should be asked. And according to studies, the answer is a yes, as long as exercise is done right. You don’t have to be a fitness buff nor to enroll in a gym program to keep healthy despite the risk of hypertension. There are some exercise that can help keep hypertension and other diseases at bay.
How to Control Hypertension with Exercise
- Studies Link Exercise and Hypertension
- Which Exercises Are Most Effective?
- Fitting Physical Activity Into Daily Routine
1. Studies Link Exercise and Hypertension
Several studies have been conducted and most have shown a relationship between exercise and hypertension. It was revealed that exercise can actually help lower blood pressure levels and thus prevent hypertension problems. But according to the studies, exercise should be kept to a moderate-intensity level or up to 40 to 75 percent of the maximum oxygen uptake.
So the current recommendation for people battling with blood pressure and hypertensive tendencies is low to moderate exercise. However, all individuals suffering from hypertension should get clearance from their primary care physicians who are involved and closely familiar with their case before beginning an exercise treatment program. Also, once the exercise program begins, it should continue since the key to effective treatment is continuity. Ideally, they should exercise around 5 to 6 times a week if they are generally healthy. If they are not fit enough to handle such exercise frequency, 3 times a week of exercise, with each session lasting only between 10 to 15 minutes, will already be enough to bring about certain benefits. And so as not to endanger their health, individuals are advised to start slow and increase exercise frequency and lengthen the duration in a methodical and gradual manner.
2. Which Exercises Are Most Effective?
The most effective exercises are endurance activities. Patients are free to choose their desired activity as long as it does the job. Recommended activities include walking, cycling, swimming, and other moderate-impact aerobics activities. After some time, at the advice of a fitness expert, the patient may move on to anaerobic exercises, focusing on low-resistance weight training.
Although exercise in general is deemed beneficial for the treatment and prevention of hypertension, some exercises, namely those that are quite intense and can cause the blood pressure to fluctuate, should at all costs be avoided.
3. Fitting Physical Activity into Daily Routine
But the link between hypertension and exercise is not limited to exercise done in gyms or even to aerobics. You can simply increase physical activity in your daily routine. There are activities you can easily fit into your routine, and they also come in low intensity and moderate intensity levels so you can match your activity to your needs.
For hypertensive patients who is not in the state to do aerobic or anaerobic excises, other physical activity alternatives such as brisk walking, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, getting off the bus one stop early, parking cars farther from the destination, or gardening are considered as low-level activities that can help keep you relatively healthier.
If your doctor advises you to increase activity, cleaning the home, mowing the lawn with a mower, painting, home repair, gardening, golfing and walking around golf courses, fishing, cycling, caneoing, or playing table tennis can be easily inserted into your routine. And since most of these are activities you can enjoy, you won’t need to worry about lack of motivation.
Exercise and Hypertension Prevention
In people not suffering from the same health concern, exercise can also help prevent the onset and development of hypertension by around 19 to 30 percent. The studies showed no discrepancy between the effects on men and women. So it is true that exercise has a role to play in both the regulation and prevention of hypertension. This link between exercise and hypertension is significant to the large number of people now suffering from blood pressure issues.