Hypertension: Safe Exercise Tips
Lowering high blood pressure can be a benefit of regular exercise. A sedentary (inactive) lifestyle is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. Fortunately, it's a risk factor that you can do something about. It can also:
Strengthen your heart and cardiovascular system.
Improve your circulation and help your body use oxygen better.
Improve heart failure symptoms.
Increase energy levels so you can do more activities without becoming tired or short of breath.
Increase endurance.
Improve muscle tone and strength.
Improve balance and joint flexibility.
Strengthen bones.
Help reduce body fat and help you reach a healthy weight.
Help reduce stress, tension, anxiety and depression.
Boost self-image and self-esteem.
Improve sleep.
Make you feel more relaxed and rested.
Make you look fit and feel healthy.
How Do I Get Started?
Always check with your doctor first before starting an exercise program. Your doctor can help you find a program that matches your level of fitness and physical condition. Here are some questions to ask:
How much exercise can I do each day?
How often can I exercise each week?
What type of exercise should I do?
What type of activities should I avoid?
Should I take my medication(s) at a certain time around my exercise schedule?
Do I have to take my pulse while exercising?
What Type of Exercise Is Best?
Exercise can be divided into three basic types:
Stretching or the slow lengthening of the muscles. Stretching the arms and legs before and after exercising helps prepare the muscles for activity and helps prevent injury and muscle strain. Regular stretching also increases your range of motion and flexibility.
Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise is steady physical activity using large muscle groups. This type of exercise strengthens the heart and lungs and improves the body's ability to use oxygen. Aerobic exercise has the most benefits for your heart. Over time, aerobic exercise can help decrease your heart rate and blood pressure and improve your breathing.
Strengthening exercises are repeated muscle contractions (tightening) until the muscle becomes tired.
What Are Examples of Aerobic Exercises?
Aerobic exercises include: walking, jogging, jumping rope, bicycling (stationary or outdoor), cross-country skiing, skating, rowing, high or low-impact aerobics, swimming and water aerobics.
How Often Should I Exercise?
In general, to achieve maximum benefits, you should gradually work up to an aerobic session lasting 20 to 30 minutes, at least three to four times a week. Exercising at least every other day will help you keep a regular aerobic exercise schedule.
What Should I Include in My Program?
Every exercise session should include a warm-up, conditioning phase and a cool-down.
Warm-up. This helps your body adjust slowly from rest to exercise. A warm-up reduces the stress on your heart and muscles, slowly increases your breathing, circulation (heart rate) and body temperature. It also helps improve flexibility and reduce muscle soreness. The best warm-up includes stretching, range of motion activities and the beginning of the activity at a low intensity level.
Conditioning. This follows the warm-up. During the conditioning phase, the benefits of exercise are gained and calories are burned. Be sure to monitor the intensity of the activity (check your heart rate). Don't over do it.
Cool-down. This is the last phase of your exercise session. It allows your body to gradually recover from the conditioning phase. Your heart rate and blood pressure will return to near resting values. Cool-down does not mean to sit down! In fact, do not sit, stand still or lie down right after exercise. This may cause you to feel dizzy or lightheaded or have heart palpitations (fluttering in your chest). The best cool-down is to slowly decrease the intensity of your activity. You may also do some of the same stretching activities you did in the warm-up phase.
How Can I Stick With It?
Have fun! Choose an activity that you enjoy. You'll be more likely to stick with an exercise program if you enjoy the activity. Here are some questions you can think about before choosing a routine:
What physical activities do I enjoy?
Do I prefer group or individual activities?
What programs best fit my schedule?
Do I have physical conditions that limit my choice of exercise?
What goals do I have in mind? (For example, losing weight, strengthening muscles or improving flexibility)
Schedule exercise into your daily routine. Plan to exercise at the same time every day (such as in the mornings when you have more energy). Add a variety of exercises so that you do not get bored. If you exercise regularly, it will soon become part of your lifestyle.
Find an exercise "buddy." This will help you stay motivated.
Also, exercise does not have to put a strain on your wallet. Avoid buying expensive equipment or health club memberships unless you are certain you will use them regularly.
Exercise Precautions for People With Heart Disease
Discuss your exercise plans with your doctor.
Review your exercise routine with your doctor regularly. This is particularly important if changes have been made in your medications. Ask your doctor about how any medication changes may affect you and your body's response to exercise before continuing your regular exercise program. New medications can greatly affect your response to activity.
If you are too tired and are not sure if it is related to overexertion, ask yourself, "What did I do yesterday?" Try to change your activities by starting out at a lower level today (but do not exercise if you are feeling very overtired). Pace yourself and balance your activities with rest.
Avoid heavy lifting, pushing heavy objects and chores such as raking, shoveling, mowing and scrubbing. Chores around the house may sometimes be tiring, so ask for help.
Ask your doctor what aerobic and strengthening exercises are appropriate for you and which exercises you should avoid.
Avoid even short periods of bed rest after exercise since it reduces exercise tolerance. If you become overly fatigued or short of breath with exercise, take a rest period in a comfortable chair.
Avoid exercising outdoors when it is too cold, hot or humid. High humidity may cause you to become fatigued more quickly and extreme temperatures can interfere with your circulation and make breathing difficult. Instead, try indoor activities such as mall walking.
Avoid extremely hot and cold showers or sauna baths after exercise.
Do not go up steep hills during your activity, whenever possible. If you must walk on a hilly area, slow your walking pace when going uphill to avoid working too hard. Watch your heart rate closely and change the activity as needed.
Reduce your activity level if your exercise program has been interrupted for a few days (for example, due to illness, vacation or bad weather). Then, gradually increase to your regular activity level as tolerated.
Do not exercise if you are not feeling well, or have a fever. Wait a few days after all symptoms disappear before starting your exercise program, unless your doctor gives you other directions.
If you are short of breath during any activity or have increased fatigue, slow down your activity level or rest. If you continue to have shortness of breath, call your doctor. Your doctor may make changes in your medications, diet, or fluid restrictions.
If you develop a rapid or irregular heartbeat or have heart palpitations, rest. Check your pulse after you rest for a few minutes -- if your pulse is still irregular or above 100 beats per minute, call your doctor for further instructions.
Do not ignore pain. If you have chest pain or pain anywhere else in your body, do not continue the activity. If you perform an activity while you are in pain, you may be doing more harm than good. Ask your doctor or physical therapist for specific guidelines. Learn to "read" your body and know when you need to stop an activity.
Warning
Stop exercising and rest if you have any of the following symptoms:
Chest pain
Weakness
Dizziness or lightheadedness
Unexplained weight gain or swelling
Pressure or pain in your chest, neck, arm, jaw or shoulder or any other symptoms that cause concern.
Call your doctor or seek emergency treatment immediately
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