Exercise - A High Blood Pressure Remedy?

One in three adult Americans suffers from high blood pressure, and less than half of those have their hypertension under control. For around 348,000 people per year in the United States, high blood pressure is the primary cause of death. These statistics present a compelling case for seeing a family doctor regularly, getting your blood pressure measured, and taking medication where necessary.

Have you been diagnosed with high blood pressure recently?

You may be anxious about taking hypertension medication every day, and are probably worried about the possible side effects. Until you find a drug — or more likely a combination of several different medications — that work for you, the side effects could be pretty bad. And it can take months to reach the point at which you are taking the drugs that keep your blood pressure down to a healthy level and do not have intolerable side effects.

It is hardly surprising that most people will look into alternative high blood pressure remedies before going on medication, or while they are suffering the adverse effects that come with their drugs. Garlic, fish oil, artichoke, black seed oil, eliminating salt from your diet, and lowering your alcohol intake are just some examples of steps some people take to attempt to get their hypertension under control.

Does this describe you?

You're certainly taking some proactive steps, and will hopefully lower your blood pressure a little through these actions. You may well be overlooking a very effective high blood pressure remedy, however. This remedy is exercise! Many people can successfully bring their blood pressure down to acceptable levels through working out alone.

Take this example — Anna, a 50 year old woman, was diagnosed with high blood pressure six years ago and started taking a combination of two different hypertension drugs three years back. When she entered the menopause, she put on weight in her abdominal area and decided to get rid of it by following along with the Steady Health exercise videos you can see on YouTube. Here's what happened to her:

“I started exercises to get rid of my 'muffin top', and I really got into it. The Steady Health videos turned me into a real work-out junkie and I went at it quite vigorously. After a while, I noticed a wonderful side effect: my blood pressure went down so much that I actually had low blood pressure! I decided to take half a pill less and that went fine.”

But this story unfortunately doesn't have a happy ending. Anna continues: “One day, my back really started hurting and I had to stop doing the exercises. When my back got better, I didn't get back into my exercise routine and the blood pressure went right up, so I had to add the extra half a pill in again.”

Why Exercise Lowers Your Blood Pressure And How To Make It Happen

Exercise has numerous benefits, and one of those is making the heart stronger. When your heart is stronger, it is able to pump blood around your body more easily — and that in turn lowers your blood pressure. Any type of exercise is good for your body, but you need to do aerobic exercises to lower your blood pressure most effectively.

Anna, who shared her story above, managed to bring her blood pressure down through sit-ups, push-ups, and pilates exercises. Those are all activities that will increase your muscle strength, and they are a great part of any work-out plan. You will achieve better results on the blood pressure-lowering front if you get involved in cardio exercises, however.

Examples of these are:

• Briskly walking

• Jogging

• Running

• Cycling

• Swimming

• Aerobics

• Team sports like soccer and basketball

• Vigorous cleaning and tidying around your home, or gardening

Any person who is hoping to attempt to regulate their blood pressure through exercise needs to be quite persistent. It is possible to notice some favorable effects of exercising within a few weeks. You may feel more energetic, may notice positive mood changes, and could even start seeing some weight loss or muscle development — depending on the type of exercise you are engaging in.

Seeing your blood pressure go down takes a little longer

The results will take around three or four months to show up. When they do, though, they may well be just as effective as blood pressure medication if you have mild hypertension. For higher blood pressure, you may still need hypertension drugs but you will probably be able to get away with a lower dosage.

Once you start reaping the benefits of your work out regime and are confident your blood pressure is at a healthy level (something you should self-measure with a blood pressure monitor regularly), it is important to keep on going. Many people are tempted to quit their exercise program because they have achieved their goal. This is as true for those people who were exercising to lose weight as it is for those who want to lower their blood pressure. Never forget that exercise is only effective at keeping your blood pressure down for as long as you actually do it. The moment you stop, your hypertension will show its ugly face again.