Exercise can lower blood pressure if it is high. As it improves blood circulation, it can also help raise blood pressure if your blood pressure is too low.

 In general, exercise is safe for someone with high blood pressure or low blood pressure, however, if you have any of these conditions, it is best to talk to your healthcare provider before starting an exercise regimen.

For someone with very high and uncontrolled blood pressure, an exercise-related increase in blood pressure can be dangerous.

For someone with low blood pressure, the risks and benefits of exercise depend on the cause of the drop in blood pressure.


What is blood pressure?



Blood pressure is a measurement of two things: it is the pressure, or force, inside the arterial walls where blood is pumped from the heart to the rest of the body and it is also the pressure in the arteries when the heart is at rest between beats. This is why when blood pressure is measured you will hear two numbers, for example, you may hear that your blood pressure reading is 110/70 mmHg (mmHg is one millimeter of mercury, which represents the height of mercury in the blood pressure cuff is when taking blood pressure). This is considered normal blood pressure. Or you may hear that your blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg, which is considered high. The top number is called systolic blood pressure and the bottom number is the diastolic pressure.

Low blood pressure is not considered a major health problem unless it causes symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, or fainting. However, hypertension can be a dangerous condition. If left untreated, it can damage arteries and lead to heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.


How does exercise affect blood pressure?

Like every other muscle in your body, your heart gets stronger when you exercise, making it more efficient at pumping blood.

Blood vessels widen and become less stiff as your heart beats faster and harder and the vessels stretch and absorb excess pressure to keep your blood pressure under control. Exercise, therefore, has a balancing effect. During exercise, the heart pumps harder and blood pressure rises modestly, but blood vessels become more elastic, which can help—and even prevent—high blood pressure.

Additionally, an exercise program can help improve other health factors, such as obesity and high cholesterol, which are risk factors for high blood pressure. When you carry a lot of extra weight, for example, your heart has to pump harder to keep blood flowing throughout your body, which increases the pressure inside the arterial walls.

 According to the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, about three in four cases of hypertension are linked to obesity.

However, it is important to note that not everyone with high blood pressure who exercises experiences the hypotensive effects of exercise. In a study published in the journal plus one, almost 25% of people did not see their blood pressure drop with exercise.


What should my blood pressure be after exercise?

To understand what blood pressure responses should be after physical activity, you need to know what blood pressure is under normal conditions.

Blood pressure increases during and immediately after exercise as your heart works hard to pump blood to the muscles. Normally, you will only see an increase in the systolic (upper) number, while the diastolic (lower) number remains relatively the same or decreases slightly. How high blood pressure rises and how long it stays there is specific to each person, but on average it should return to normal in just a few minutes.

If you want to measure changes in blood pressure after exercise, you can purchase a blood pressure monitor to use at home. It is recommended to wait until your heart rate returns to normal.

A normal heart rate, or pulse, is the number of heartbeats per minute at rest. Find your pulse (wrist or neck) and count the number of beats for 60 seconds when you first wake up. This is the base heart rate. The same factors that increase your heart rate also increase blood pressure and it is recommended that you wait about five minutes after exercising and then get your blood pressure checked.

So how many exercises can be done to lower blood pressure – and for how long?

Much depends on the type of exercise you do (cardiovascular exercise versus using free weights, for example), the duration of your exercise, the intensity of the exercise, your overall physical condition, and your normal resting blood pressure.

The American College of Sports Medicine reports that aerobic exercise—exercises that increase heart rates, such as brisk walking, swimming, or bicycling—can lower blood pressure by 5 to 7 mmHg in people with hypertension.

 The drop in blood pressure occurs soon after exercise and can last for a full 24 hours thereafter. This is called post-exercise hypotension.

There is good evidence to suggest that other forms of exercise, such as resistance training (eg, lifting hand weights), may also lower blood pressure. One study found that this type of exercise lowers blood pressure by about 4 mmHg. But reductions in blood pressure after exercise are usually temporary unless you exercise constantly. That's why experts recommend exercising most days of the week if you have high blood pressure.


Low blood pressure after exercise

Exercise can lower blood pressure in people with normal or high blood pressure. But it's possible that exercise can lower blood pressure a lot, especially if you're already prone to low blood pressure due to things like:


* Taking certain medications such as certain antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, diuretics (medicines that increase urine production), heart disease medications, and painkillers can lower blood pressure. In some cases, the blood pressure medications themselves can lower the pressure too much.

* The presence of endocrine disorders such as diabetes or thyroid disease

* Have heart problems such as heart valve disease or heart failure.

* Dehydration of the body, which has an effect on blood circulation.


How do you know if you have low blood pressure?

 We note Symptoms such as:

Dizziness

pass out

Nausea

Concentration problems

Rapid and shallow breathing

Blurred vision

Pale and cold skin

Being unusually tired.


If you experience any of these symptoms, see your healthcare provider. Low blood pressure can sometimes indicate something serious, such as internal blood loss, and the dizziness that often accompanies it can lead to falls and other accidents. Your healthcare provider may advise you to adjust the medications you take or reduce the intensity of your exercise, depending on the cause of your low blood pressure.


High blood pressure after exercise

Blood pressure levels usually increase during exercise because it is normal for blood pressure to be above baseline during and immediately after exercise in people with normal or high hypertension.

Exercise can cause a 50 to 70 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure. Seek immediate medical attention if your blood pressure is over 180/120 and you have symptoms such as:


severe chest pain.

Shortness of breath.

Lumbago.

Vision problems.

severe headaches.

Nausea or vomiting.


A hypertensive crisis is considered a medical emergency and can lead to stroke or organ damage if left untreated.


Blood pressure and exercise: some safety tips



Obtain medical advice before beginning any exercise program. Your healthcare provider can give you advice and tell you what to watch out for. It is also possible that your medications need to be adjusted.

Blood pressure medications can interfere with some aspects of the exercise regimen, and some medications can prevent the heart rate from increasing to the target heart rate for exercise. Other medications can increase the risk of dehydration if you exercise at high intensity and don't drink enough fluids.

Once you have medical clearance, make exercise safer and more effective at regulating blood pressure with these tips:

👉Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. You don't have to do it in one shift, and you can break it up however you want over the course of a week. Even doing three 10-minute exercise sessions a day can benefit your heart health.

To determine moderate severity, do some math. Subtract your age from 220-this is the maximum heart rate. You want to exercise at 50% to 85% of your maximum heart rate, says the American Heart Association. Math, not your thing? If you can only speak in short, broken sentences during practice, chances are you are in your target zone. Or try using a wearable heart rate tracker.


👉 Warm up and cool down. These are important parts of exercise that can help gradually increase and decrease heart rate. Try walking, biking, or jumping rope—at a slow pace for 5 to 10 minutes—before and after your workout.


👉 Rhythm yourself. Gradually increase from 50% of target heart rate to 85%.


👉 Mix things up. For example, take a walk one day, work on toning using your body weight as resistance, and the next. This will keep things interesting and give you a full-body workout.


👉 Be careful when lifting weights. While strength training is safe for people with high blood pressure, pushing yourself with weights that test your limits and/or doing multiple sets with little rest in between can significantly raise blood pressure. However, for most people, the short-term risk of high blood pressure is outweighed by the long-term benefits of lifting weights.


👉 Avoid exercises that cause you to change body position quickly. For example, be careful when moving too quickly from a sitting to a standing position, especially if you have low blood pressure. Other exercises you should pay attention to include yoga poses and exercises such as burpees or sit-ups. Changing positions quickly can make some people with low blood pressure feel dizzy or lightheaded.


👉Adding exercise to your daily routine has many benefits for your physical and mental well-being. In addition to controlling blood pressure, exercise has many benefits such as reducing stress, increasing energy, etc.