High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a common condition that increases your risk of a heart attack or stroke. Medication may not be your only treatment option. According to MayoClinic.com, aerobic exercise can control high blood pressure. As long as you are walking briskly enough to increase your heart and respiratory rate, walking is considered an aerobic exercise. How much your blood pressure can be lowered varies among individuals and depends on how high your blood pressure is currently.
Recommendation
A general recommendation is to walk 10,000 steps a day, or 5 miles. Your total number of daily steps should include your everyday activities and exercise. Walking a mile a day is a good start, but that is only a little over 2,000 steps. A reasonable goal is to increase your average daily steps each week by 500 steps a day until you can easily average 10,000 steps per day. In terms of minutes, you should try to fit 30 to 60 minutes of dedicated walking into your routine at least 3 or 4 days a week. For blood-pressure lowering effects, walk at a brisk pace.
Results
According to MayoClinic.com, it takes about one to three months for regular exercise to have an impact on your blood pressure, but the benefits last only as long as you continue to exercise. Regular physical activity can lower your systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, by about 5 to 10 millimeters of mercury, or mm Hg. Such results are comparable to the effects of some blood pressure medications.
Monitoring
The only way to know if your blood pressure is getting lower is to monitor it. You can get your blood pressure taken at the doctor's office, the pharmacy or you can monitor it at home using a blood pressure machine, which you can purchase at a medical supply store or pharmacy. A normal blood pressure is less than 120/80mmHg. If you choose to monitor your blood pressure at home, check it either before you exercise or one hour after you exercise to ensure accurate results.
Helpful Hints
Research has found that using a pedometer, or step counter, setting a goal and recording your daily steps in a diary may help you walk an additional mile each day. In one study, on average, the participants lost a few pounds and lowered their blood pressure enough to lower their risk for stroke and heart disease. A suggestion is to also record your blood pressure readings in your diary to further monitor your progress.
