Exercise will reduce your B/P

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers who reviewed more than 50 studies on the effects of exercise on blood pressure have a message for all couch-potatoes out there: Get moving.

Whether you are overweight or trim, have hypertension or normal blood pressure, engaging in regular exercise such as walking, cycling, jogging or swimming can help lower your blood pressure and your subsequent risk of heart attack and stroke.

The review of 54 clinical trials involving 2,419 previously sedentary adults concluded that regular exercise decreased systolic blood pressure — the upper number in a blood-pressure reading — by an average of 4 mm of mercury (mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number, by an average of 2.6 mm Hg.

Even a small reduction in the overall population’s average blood pressure level should dramatically reduce the morbidity and mortality of heart disease and stroke in the US general population.

The new findings offer more evidence that exercise is important both for treating high blood pressure and preventing the condition from developing in healthy people, he said.

US health officials advise that people aim to get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise on 5 or more days a week.

The more you exercise, the more you strengthen your heart, thereby making it more efficient.  Also, exercise helps to keep your vessels flexible, which in turn helps to keep blood pressure (B/P) down.

You can feel your pulse in your wrist or your neck to check whether it feels strong and slow. Strong and slow is best.  A strong heart pumps more at one time, so it can work more slowly.

Aerobic exercise reduced B/P

People who engage in aerobic forms of exercise, including walking, jogging and cycling, tend to have lower blood pressure than those who mix aerobic exercise with anaerobic activities such as weight training.

While previous studies have shown that regular exercise can cut blood pressure, the new findings suggest aerobic exercise may be the most effective type of activity for lowering blood pressure.

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