While medication is often used to treat conditions such as hypertension, or high blood pressure, you may find that exercising can have beneficial effects as well. In addition to helping you burn calories, exercise can trigger positive physiological effects that may help control hypertension. Hypertension is a serious condition, so you should consult a doctor before you make any attempts to treat your hypertension.
Hypertension Overview
Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure, and it is a common cardiovascular condition. Hypertension occurs when your blood vessels are narrow and your blood then exerts a large force on your artery walls. Unfortunately, you may have high blood pressure and not realize it, as you may not necessarily experience any symptoms of hypertension.
Risk Factors For Hypertension
You may be able to reduce your risk of hypertension by limiting behaviors that trigger the condition. Risk factors for hypertension include obesity, overindulgence in alcohol, smoking, a lack of exercise and consuming too much sodium. However, some risk factors for hypertension cannot be avoided, such as age, gender and ethnicity; your risk increases as you age, if you are male and if you are African-American.
Weightlifting and Hypertension
Weightlifting, or resistance training, can be an effective exercise for reducing hypertension. Although lifting weights does temporarily increase your blood pressure, Mayo Clinic hypertension specialist Dr. Sheldon G. Sheps explains that the long-term reduction in blood pressure is greater than the temporary increase. Weightlifting can also help reduce obesity, as a 180 lb. person burns 490 calories per hour lifting weights.
Aerobic Exercise and Hypertension
Aerobic exercise includes walking, running, swimming, cycling and aerobics classes. Although some aerobic exercise modes are not as intense as weightlifting, they may help control hypertension. Exercising for 30 minutes at 40 to 70 percent of your maximum intensity level at least five times weekly can be beneficial. Lower intensity levels are less likely to trigger temporary spikes in blood pressure that you might experience with weighlifting or other intense exercises.
References
- MayoClinic.com; High Blood Pressure (Hypertension); March 22, 2011
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Who Is At Risk for High Blood Pressure?
- MayoClinic.com; Weightlifting: Bad For Your Blood Pressure?; Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D.; Dec. 18, 2009
- NutriStrategy: Calories Burned During Exercise
- "Journal of Human Hypertension"; Exercise and Hypertension; A. Choudhury, G.Y.H. Lip; May 2005
