Does exercise raise or lower blood pressure?
Yes I know a lot of people tend to run away from exercising especially when it starts to hurt. The truth however is that exercising goes a long way to improving our quality of life. It might not be easy yeah but it’s important to know that good things of life usually don’t come around easy. Exercise in addition to reducing blood pressure also helps in weight reduction and weight loss maintenance.
The truth is that when you look good of course you feel good and happy. Infact the importance of exercising can never be overemphasized as it also helps to strengthen the muscles of your body. To start exercising it is best to know your current health status and decide what type of exercises are just right for you. There is no need to overdo it and in the process cause yourself more harm than good.
Choose exercises that you intend to make part of your routine exercises. I must confess, I have had a bit of weight issues over the years but guess what, I now have it all under control. This is because the power is definitely in my hands just as the power to say no to obesity is also in your hands (that’s if you are by any chance battling with being overweight or obese).
I decided to start eating healthy and I reduced junk foods to the barest minimum. Let’s rewind here, do not get me wrong, I never said I started to starve. What I said was that I started eating healthy and of course reduced junk foods. To then crown it all, I checked out the most effective exercise for the different parts of my body that needed trimming. For me when I start to add weight, it is usually more prominent in my arms, belly and thighs so off I went to the internet to check effective exercise routines to reduce arm, belly and thigh fat. Trust me it took a little while but with perseverance and consistency I started to get good results for my hard work. At least I know now that I have reduced my chances of being hypertensive in the nearest future so if I could do it then of course you can too. Let’s get right down to business. Basically, there are two types of exercise namely “aerobic” and “anaerobic” exercises.
- Aerobic exercises: These are exercises that involve the use of oxygen to provide energy. They help to burn fat with low intensity and longer duration work outs. They are extremely useful exercises for weight loss. They can also be called cardio exercises as they pump oxygenated blood from the heart to deliver oxygen to the working muscles. However they can fast become anaerobic exercises if they are performed at a higher level of intensity. They should be kept simple and easily practiced. Examples of aerobic exercises include swimming, running, walking, hiking cycling jump rope (at normal speed), biking, skiing and boxing. I have mentioned quite a number so there is definitely no excuse you can start some of these exercises right away on your road to loosing that excess weight and subsequently reducing high blood pressure.
- Anaerobic Exercise: Anaerobic exercise is a form of high intensity exercise that does not make use of oxygen but rather make use of alternative metabolic pathways. They last for just a short period of time. They include weight lifting, sprinting, pushups, pull-ups, squats etc. They are very effective in helping to keep that perfect shape and maintaining a normal blood pressure.
So from the above mentioned exercises which ones do you find interesting and feasible. I encourage you to start as soon as you can. I assure you that with hard work and consistency success is paramount. The time frame of exercising each day largely depends on what you intend to achieve with the exercises. The question then becomes is it to loose excess weight, to get into good shape or to reduce your blood pressure.
Well research shows that to maintain a significant weight loss about 60 minutes of your time each day must go into exercising. Meanwhile for a good physique and reduction of blood pressure about 30 minutes of exercise each day is needed.
So there we have it, like the popular saying goes, knowledge is power. I would therefore like to encourage anyone battling with excess weight problems or high blood pressure to empower themselves and find a fitness or exercise routine that works best for them.