Want to Lower Blood Pressure Naturally? Then Exercise May be the Answer

If you want to lower your blood pressure naturally then exercise may be the key for you to do just that. Many people with high blood pressure may be apprehensive about starting exercise or just not realize the benefits exercise can have is lowering your blood pressure naturally. However if approached correctly regular exercise can make a big difference to bringing your blood pressure lower.

The most beneficial form of exercise if you want to lower your blood pressure naturally is aerobic exercise where you are using large muscle groups in a rhythmical fashion. Systolic BP and diastolic BP can be lowered by approximately 6-10 mmhg with regular aerobic exercise for many women and men regardless of age who were previously leading sedentary lives.

The obvious activities are walking, jogging, cycling, or cross trainers and it is advised especially when starting out to keep your pulse within the 40 –70% of maximum heart rate. Exercise recommendations are 3-5 times per week for between 20-60 minutes depending on fitness levels.

When it comes to resistance exercise the best form of training for lowering blood pressure is using lighter weights, more repetitions (15-20) in a circuit type format.

Therefore a recommendation would be 2-3 times a week of 2 x circuits of 8-10 exercises using all muscle groups working at an intensity that will cause form failure on each exercise. However there are special considerations regarding strength training which are:

• No Isometric or power work.
• Maintaining normal breathing patterns. i.e. avoiding breath holding.
• Do not go to Complete Failure when performing an exercise.
• Reduce the weight when working above the shoulders with blood pressure in readings in High Normal (130-139/85-89) and Stage 1 (140-159/90-99).
• Avoid overhead work completely for those people with Stage 2 (160-179/100-109) and Stage 3 (>180->110) blood pressure readings.
• Avoid incline sit up or decline bench exercises.
• DO NOT EXERCISE if resting Systolic BP is over 200 or diastolic is greater than 115

Obviously I would advise speaking to your doctor before starting any physical activity but for most people wanting to lower blood pressure naturally then taking up exercise in my opinion should be one of the first steps they take. Apart from the obvious health benefits to the body regular exercise is going to help with weight management. Being overweight is probably one of the leading causes for many people having high blood pressure so losing weight through exercise and modifications to diet, such as less saturated fat, reduction in sodium intake and limited alcohol consumption can have a really positive impact. If your ready to start an exercise program but not sure how to begin then I would advise speaking to fitness professional and have them create a program for you.