Exercise and Hypertension

With COVID going around more and more of us are concerned with healthy living. And for many, that entails exercising and controlling their hypertension. There is a connection between exercise and hypertension. Physical activity done regularly helps to reduce the chance of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, some cancers, and skeletal and joint disorders (Pirzadeh, Mostafavi, Ghofranipour, & Feizi, 2015).

Typical recommendations for regular exercise would be 75 hrs a week of vigorous exercise. Or 150 hrs a week of moderate exercise. This can be achieved using any type of exercise that you like. So go and start moving. But let's talk more about how these are linked.

What is Hypertension?

It seems as though many Americans are living a life that leads to high blood pressure or hypertension. As people age, the situation gets worse. Nearly half of all older Americans have hypertension. Hypertension is a prominent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in the world. This disease makes people five times more prone to strokes, three times more likely to have a heart attack, and two to three times more likely to experience heart failure.

The problem with this disease is that nearly one-third of the people who have hypertension do not know it. This is because they never feel any direct pain. But over time, the force of that pressure damages the inside surface of your blood vessels.

However, according to experts, hypertension is not predestined. Reducing salt intake, adopting a desirable dietary pattern losing weight and exercising can all help prevent hypertension.

Obviously, quitting bad habits and eating a low-fat diet will help, but the most significant thing that you can do is exercise. And just as exercise strengthens and improves limb muscles, it also enhances the health of the heart muscles.

If you want to learn about Heral Remedies and Hypertension, check out this article: 6 Herbal Remedies For High Blood Pressure

Heart and Exercise

Exercise stimulates the development of new connections between the impaired and nearly normal blood vessels. So people who exercise have a better blood supply to all the muscle tissue in their hearts.

The human heart basically supplies blood to an area of the heart damaged in myocardial infarction. A heart attack is a condition, in which, the myocardium, or the heart muscle, does not get enough oxygen and other nutrients, and so it begins to die.

For this reason, and after a series of careful considerations, some researchers have observed that exercise can stimulate the development of these life-saving detours in the heart. One study further showed that moderate exercise several times a week is more effective in building up these auxiliary pathways than extremely vigorous exercise done twice as often.

Such information has led some people to think of exercise as a panacea for heart disorders, a fail-safe protection against hypertension or death. That is not so. Even marathon runners who have suffered from hypertension find that exercise cannot overcome a combination of other risk factors.

What Causes Hypertension?

Sometimes abnormalities of the kidney are responsible. There is also a study wherein the researchers identified more common contributing factors such as heredity, obesity, and lack of physical activity. And so, what can be done to lower blood pressure and avoid the risk of developing hypertension? Again, exercise seems to be just what the doctor might order.

If you think that is what you will do, then, try to contemplate this list. Find some ways to incorporate these things into your lifestyle and start to live a life free from the possibility of developing hypertension. But before you start following the systematic instructions, it would be better to review them first before getting into action.

See your doctor.

Check with your doctor before beginning an exercise program. If you make any significant changes in your level of physical activity, particularly if those changes could place large and sudden demands on your circulatory system, check with your doctor again.

Take it slow.

Start at a low, comfortable level of exertion and progress gradually. The program is designed in two stages to allow for a progressive increase in activity.

Know your limit

Determine your safety limit for exertion. Use some clues such as sleep problems or fatigue the day after a workout to check on whether you are overdoing it. Once identified, stay within it. Over-exercising is both dangerous and unnecessary.

Exercise regularly

You need to work out a minimum of three times a week and a maximum of five times a week to get the most benefit. Once you are in peak condition, a single workout a week can maintain the muscular benefits. However, cardiovascular fitness requires more frequent activity.

Exercise at a rate within your capacity

The optimum benefits for older exercisers are produced by exercise at 40% to 60% of capacity.

Indeed, weight loss through exercise is an excellent starting point if you want to prevent hypertension. Experts say that being overweight is linked to an increased risk of developing hypertension and losing weight decreases the risk.

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