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Hypertension - what good is exercise?
By Erin Fairlie (Exercise Physiologist)
Hypertension or high blood pressure is becoming more common within today’s society. Textbook ‘perfect’ blood pressure is taken as 120/80mmHg (systolic/diastolic) while high blood pressure is 140/90mmHg or more. High blood pressure increases the risk to many diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and strokes.
There are many ways to help lower your blood pressure, one of which being exercise. I can hear you saying “I thought exercise increased your blood pressure?”. Yes, as you exercise, your blood pressure increases acutely to keep up with the demand from your working muscles. This elevation in blood pressure will go back to resting levels after a short period of time.
Exercise is one of those things that you can benefit from in so many different ways, one of these being helping with hypertension. Only 60 to 90 minutes of exercise a week has been shown to significantly lower blood pressure. Over a whole week this is a very small amount of exercise! In this study, systolic (higher) pressure was reduced an average of 12 points and diastolic (lower) pressure was reduced by 8 points. This study shows that only a small amount of exercise can be very beneficial to people with high blood pressure.
How does exercise actually help reduce blood pressure?
When you exercise the regular activity helps to make your heart muscle stronger. The stronger your heart is, the easier it is for the heart to pump more blood with less effort. Thus, as your heart has to work less, the force that is exerted on your arteries is decreased.
Exercise can decrease your blood pressure an average of 10mmHg, which is the same amount as some blood pressure medications. Therefore, just by doing aerobic exercise regularly you could not only decrease your blood pressure, but for some people, also stop taking medication. Something to be mindful of is the fact that people with very high blood pressure should not be doing any intense exercise, instead they should walk as a form of exercise.
For those of us with good blood pressure, around 120/80mmHg, exercise is the perfect way to help keep it that way. Blood pressure has a tendency to increase as we age, therefore exercise becomes even more important. You will benefit in many other ways too, including, helping you to maintain a healthy weight, help prevent type 2 diabetes manifestation and help keep a good cholesterol profile.
What is the catch?
You have to keep exercising. It takes between 1 to 3 months of regular aerobic exercise before your blood pressure will stabilise. The instant you stop exercising you will start to lose any benefits. Therefore routine is the key! Therefore, aim to do at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week. If you can’t do one session of 30 minutes, numerous shorter sessions count too. Remember, aerobic exercise doesn’t have to be walking, running or cycling. Any activity you do for a prolonged period of time where you have to work counts. Examples include, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, mopping and vacuuming.