Blood Pressure and Exercise - Can Exercising Help Lower High Blood Pressure?

It has long been known controlling blood pressure meant eating a healthy diet, staying away from sodium and getting exercise. However, what is the best type of exercising to do and how much of it should be done by a person looking to overcome hypertension? In this article, we discuss the type of exercise that gets the best results in overcoming high blood pressure.

Exercising can build the strength of the heart. A stronger heart will make blood flow through the veins more easily. Blood flowing through the veins more easily means lower blood pressure readings. Also, exercising helps the structure of the arteries. This will give less resistance to blood flow. Once again, this will help lower your readings.

One of the enemies of hypertension is sodium. Aerobic exercise helps eliminate sodium from the system. This combined with a lower sodium diet can potentially change BP readings dramatically. Still, the diet cannot be overlooked altogether but exercising can be very helpful in this regard.

Of course, it is possible to do too much exercising too soon if you are not accustomed to exercising at all. So, you should start gradually and build yourself up to the point you will be able to exercise on a daily or almost daily basis. It is highly recommended anyone starting on an exercise program check with his or her doctor before he or she starts exercising. The doctor will be able to recommend approximately how much you exercise you should start out doing.

The goal is to be able to do approximately a half hour of aerobic exercise at least four times a week. However, the exercises don't have to be done in half hour sessions. Instead, they can be split up into 3 10-minute exercise sessions. Beginners can start with 10 minutes of aerobics on each of the days they are exercising and then work up to 2 10-minute sessions a day and then three.

An added bonus to following an exercise routine is the fact you will be getting into shape, losing weight and looking better. Of course, losing weight is helpful for those who are overcoming are trying to guard against hypertension.

After you become comfortable with your aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercises, such as weightlifting or body toning can be added to the routine. However, it is really the aerobic exercises from which you will derive most of the benefits of blood pressure control.

Once again, it is very important you see your doctor before you start on an exercise routine. Though it would be unusual, if there is a reason you should not be exercising at this time in your life, your doctor will be able to tell you what you should do. Otherwise, he or she will tell you how much you can exercise as a beginner.