High blood pressure is basically an abnormal amount of force placed on your arterial walls. As blood circulates through the body, it creates a certain amount of pressure on the walls of your arteries. But when blood flow is met with resistance, it can increase the amount of pressure within your blood vessels. This can take a toll on the arterial walls and lead to a number of serious health concerns, such as heart failure, heart attack, stroke and aneurysm. Exercise, however, can sometimes help reduce the amount of this pressure.
Cardio
Walking is probably one of the easiest ways to reduce your blood pressure. For many people, all you need to do is take a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day to prevent or treat high blood pressure. If you're not a walker, other moderately intense physical activities, such as biking, jogging, cross-country skiing, dancing, or kayaking, can improve your blood pressure. Even taking part in competitive sports, like tennis, racquetball, basketball or soccer, can improve your cardiovascular health and make a difference in your numbers.
Strength Training
While strength training activities can increase your blood pressure momentarily, they can have a positive impact on your readings in the long run. If you're interested in lifting weights to improve your blood pressure, use lighter weights and increase your repetitions rather than lifting heavy weights. It's also important to use proper breathing to avoid extremes in blood pressure. For best results, talk to a personal trainer. These fitness professionals can teach you the proper technique to avoid injury.
Physical Activity
The increase in physical activity doesn't need to be isolated to exercise. Many day-to-day activities can increase your heart rate, which improves your cardiovascular health and reduces blood pressure. Something as simple as mowing the lawn or raking the leaves can increase the heart rate to positively impact blood pressure. Mopping or scrubbing floors or vacuuming the carpet can be of benefit as well. Also, look for other ways to increase your level of physical activity. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or riding your bike instead of your car can go a long way to reducing your blood pressure.
Recommendation
Before you increase your level of physical activity, talk to your doctor, especially if you're a male over 40 or a female over 50. It's also important to discuss exercise programs if you're overweight, obese or currently suffer from high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol. Smoking, family histories of cardiovascular issues or a prior heart attack necessitates your doctor's approval as well.
