Blood pressure is a measure of the force of blood on artery walls as it circulates through blood vessels. During exercise it's normal for blood pressure to increase to meet the body's need for more oxygen-rich blood. Blood pressure for a normal, resting adult heart is less than 120 over 80, or 120/80 mmHg, with 120 representing pressure on the artery walls when the heart contracts and 80 representing pressure between heartbeats.
Blood Pressure and Exercise
During exercise it's normal for blood pressure to go up. While the pressure between heartbeats should stay roughly the same, the number representing pressure on artery walls will increase. According to sports medicine specialist Dr. Gabe Mirkin, it's normal for your blood pressure to increase up to 200 over 80 while doing an aerobic activity like running and 300 over 200 while doing strength-training activities with heavy weights. If your systolic blood pressure, the top number, hits 250 or higher, it's considered high.
Exercise Hypertension
Exercise hypertension refers to blood pressure that spikes to abnormally high levels during exercise and typically occurs in people who are generally healthy. According to Johns Hopkins researchers, exercise hypertension is a known risk factor for developing persistent high blood pressure at rest and early artery disease. It's believed that exercise hypertension is caused when cells in the blood vessels restrict arteries from expanding, which dangerously limits blood flow during exertion.
High Blood Pressure
Blood pressure naturally rises and falls throughout the day, especially in response to ordinary factors like physical exertion, emotions, stress, anxiety and diet. A diagnosis of hypertension is made after several persistently high blood pressure readings over the course of about four months. No one knows what causes high blood pressure, but certain lifestyle choices can raise your risk for hypertension, including being overweight, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, stress and aging.
Stages
Prehypertension, a term assigned to someone likely to develop high blood pressure, is characterized by a systolic reading, or top number, of 120 to 139 and the diastolic reading, or bottom number, of 80 to 89. Mildly high blood pressure is when the systolic reading is 140 to 159 and diastolic reading is 90 to 99. Moderate to severely high blood pressure is when the systolic reading is over 159 and the diastolic number is over 99. A systolic reading lower than 90 is hypotension, or low blood pressure.
References
- Drmirkin.com: High Blood Pressure During Exercise
- Johns Hopkins Medicine; Exercise Hypertension Occurs When Cells Can't Relax, Hopkins Researchers Find; April 6, 2004
- Patient Health International; Exercise Hypertension; March 17, 2009
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure
