Diastolic pressure is the force on your blood vessel walls while your heart is filling with blood. Your diastolic pressure is reflective of the resistance around your body that is placed on your arteries. During exercise, this can balance out, causing your diastolic pressure to change little between exercise and rest.
Normal Response
When you exercise, most of the functions inside your body increase with the added energy production that exercise takes. However, your diastolic blood pressure will either stay the same or decrease. A normal response is a drop no more than 10 points in your diastolic blood pressure. A rise in diastolic blood pressure greater than 15 points is abnormal and may be an indication of underlying coronary artery disease.
Mechanism
The mechanism for a reduction or maintenance of your diastolic pressure has to do with the response of the cardiovascular system that comes with exercise. Most all of your responses including your heart rate, systolic blood pressure and cardiac output increase with aerobic activity. However, your total peripheral resistance as indicated by the vasodilation of your arteries increases. Your blood vessels dilate to provide more blood flow to the muscles working hard. Because of this dilation, resistance reduces making up for the other increases in cardiovascular function. This evens out the response of your diastolic pressure causing it to stay the same or decrease.
Resistance Training
Resistance training exercise has a different effect on your diastolic blood pressure. Weight lifting can cause a substantial increase in your diastolic blood pressure. Depending on the intensity of your resistance program, your arteries become constricted because of the force of the contraction your muscles must perform. This causes an increase in your diastolic pressure. However, your diastolic pressure should return to a more normal state after your workout.
Long-Term Effects
With regular exercise, you will begin to see favorable effects on your resting blood pressure. High blood pressure is a serious problem that can affect many systems inside your body. Regular exercise influences your nervous system and hormones to relax your vessels and thus reduce your blood pressure. According to Len Kravitz, PhD, of the University of New Mexico, regular exercise of about 30 to 45 minutes per day can account for a reduction of 6 to 10 points of your diastolic blood pressure.
References
- "Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Applications"; George A. Brooks, et al.; 2005
- Medline Plus; Blood Pressure; David C. Dugdale, III; 2010
- SportsFitnessAdvisor.com; The Cardiovascular System and Exercise; Phil Davies
- University of Washington: Cardiovascular Response to Exercise
- MayoClinic.com; Exercise: A Drug-Free Approach To Lowering High Blood Pressure; 2010
- AskTheDoctor.com; Diastolic Blood Pressure Rise During Isometric Exercise; 2011
- University of New Mexico; Exercise and Resting BP; Len Kravitz
