Exercising usually helps lower blood pressure and gives you more energy. It's a great way to relieve stress and boost your mood. But it's best to check with your doctor first.
You don’t need to go to the gym. You just need some willpower and to be active enough to get your heart beating a bit faster. You can do this by walking fast, running, swimming, biking, or lifting weights. This article highlights the most important tips to help you exercise if you have high blood pressure.
To pick your sport, two good questions to ask yourself first are:
What do you enjoy? Do you prefer exercising in a group or alone?
What type of exercise do you like? There are three main types:
- Aerobic exercises can help lower blood pressure and strengthen your heart. Examples include walking, running, jumping rope, cycling, skiing, rowing, high or low impact workouts, swimming, and water exercises.
- Aerobic exercises help build strong muscles that burn more calories throughout the day. They're also good for your joint and bone health. Stretching exercises make you more flexible, help you move better, and prevent injuries.
How often should you exercise?
- Do moderate activity like brisk walking for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week minimum. If you're short on time, intense activity like running gives the same benefit in 20 minutes if you do it 3 or 4 times a week. If it feels too hard, don't worry, just start at a comfortable level and you'll improve with time.
- First, warm up exercises. They get your body moving and reduce risk of injury. You can do them before every workout for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Then, gradually increase speed and effort until you can still talk to someone during exercise. But if you can sing, that means you're not working at full effort yet. Then push yourself a bit more.
- Finally, do cool down or relaxation exercises. When you finish, don't stop suddenly. Slow down your speed and effort for a few minutes. This is especially important if you have high blood pressure.
Set a workout schedule in your daily routine with a specific time. Find a friend to exercise with you. This helps keep you motivated and makes it more fun.
Is exercise safe for people with high blood pressure?
- Exercise is one of the best ways you can lower your risk of high blood pressure.
- When exercising, listen to your body, it might take some time to get used to it.
- It's also normal to breathe hard, sweat a lot, and have a fast heartbeat during cardio exercise, but if you have severe shortness of breath or your heart beats very fast or irregularly, slow down your activity during exercise.
- Stop exercising if you feel chest pain, dizziness, or pain in your neck, arm, jaw, or shoulder.
