Blood Pressure is the pressure of blood pushing against the partitions of your arteries. Arteries carry blood out of your heart to other parts of your body.
Blood pressure normally rises and falls throughout the day, but it will possibly damage your heart and cause health problems if it stays high for a very long time. Hypertension, also called hypertension, is blood pressure that’s higher than normal.
In 2017, The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines released recent guidelinesfor the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults.
Our focus can be to know the link between physical fitness and hypertension. Acc. to the report:
- Studies have demonstrated an inverse relationship between physical activity and physical fitness and level of BP and hypertension.
- Even modest levels of physical activity have been related to a decrease in the danger of incident hypertension. This signifies that, you wouldn’t have to “get in shape” to get the blood pressure advantages from exercise since blood pressure is lowered immediately following a single session of exercise for as much as 24 hours. In other words, half-hour a day of exercise, might help keep the medicines away.
- Physical fitness, attenuates the rise of BP with age and prevents the event of hypertension.
- Higher physical fitness decreased the speed of rise in SBP over time and delayed the time to onset of hypertension.
- A BP-lowering effect of increased physical activity has been repeatedly demonstrated in clinical trials, especially during dynamic aerobic exercise, but in addition during dynamic resistance training and static isometric exercise ().
The average reductions in SBP with aerobic exercise are roughly 2 to 4 mm Hg and 5 to eight mm Hg in adult patients with normotension and hypertension, respectively. These BP reductions follow the “law of initial values” such that individuals with baseline BP values experience even reductions in BP from exercise training. In other words, exercise works best in those that can stand to profit essentially the most.
Increased physical activity has been an intrinsic component of longer-term weight reduction interventions used to cut back BP and stop hypertension
BP-lowering effects have been reported with lower- and higher-intensity exercise and with continuous and interval exercise training. isometric exercise ends in substantial lowering of BP.
The group of individuals with high to healthy blood pressure, also called stage 1 hypertension, is defined as individuals with a blood pressure reading of 130–139. For these people, dynamic resistance training is the primary priority.
BP reductions of this magnitude lower overall CVD risk by 20-30%. For these reasons all major public health organizations universally recommend aerobic exercise for the first prevention and treatment of hypertension. Similar to a drug prescription, individuals could be “prescribed” an exercise prescription for the prevention, treatment, and control of high BP following the FITT principle:
- Frequency: How often?
- Intensity: How hard?
- Time: How long?
- Type: What kind?
ACSM recommends the next exercise prescription for people with hypertension:
- Frequency: For aerobic exercise, 5-7 days/wk, supplemented by resistance exercise 2-3 days/wk and adaptability exercise ≥2-3 days/wk. Individuals with hypertension are encouraged to have interaction in greater frequencies of aerobic exercise than those with normal BP because we all know that a single bout of aerobic exercise ends in immediate reductions in BP of 5-7 mmHg, that persist for as much as 24 hr.
- Intensity: moderate [i.e., 40-<60% VO2max or 11-14 on a scale of 6 (no exertion) to 20 (maximal exertion) level of physical exertion or an intensity that causes noticeable increases in heart rate and breathing] for aerobic exercise (like brisk walking); moderate to vigorous (60-80% 1RM) for resistance; and stretch to the purpose of feeling tightness or slight discomfort for flexibility.
New and emerging evidence suggest that the magnitude of the BP reductions that result from aerobic exercise occur as a direct function of intensity, such that the more vigorous the intensity, the greater the resultant BP reductions. Individuals who’re willing and able may consider progressing to more vigorous intensities, nevertheless, the risk-to-benefit ratio has not yet been established., so one must progress slowly and punctiliously.
- Time: for aerobic exercise, a minimum of 30 min or as much as 60 min/d for continuous or collected aerobic exercise. If intermittent, begin with a minimum of 10 min bouts.
New and emerging research has shown that short bouts of exercise (3-10 min) interspersed throughout the day may elicit BP reductions similar in magnitude to 1 continuous bout of exercise and should be a viable antihypertensive lifestyle strategy for people with limited time.
- Type: for aerobic exercise, emphasis must be placed on prolonged, rhythmic activities using large muscle groups resembling walking, cycling, or swimming. Resistance training may complement aerobic training and may consist of 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions for every of the foremost muscle groups.
For flexibility, hold each muscle 10-30 s for 2-4 repetitions per muscle group. Balance training (neuromotor) exercise training can also be really useful in individuals at high risk for fall (i.e., older adults) and is prone to profit younger adults as well.
A meta-analysis study showed that, dynamic resistance exercise training to end in BP reductions similar in magnitude to aerobic exercise training. However, one have to be careful as inhaling and breath-holding while engaging within the actual lifting of a weight (i.e., Valsalva manoeuvre) can lead to extremely high BP responses, dizziness, and even fainting and must be avoided during resistance training.
Another meta-analysis studyfound that, resistance training alone reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in prehypertensive and hypertensive subjects, especially in elderly people.
The blood pressure response to resistance training depends upon a variety of aspects including the quantity of muscle mass recruited, respiratory technique, amount of resistance lifted, variety of repetitions, speed of lifting and rest between sets:
- The more muscle mass used during a resistance training exercise, the greater the blood pressure response. Performing exercises like leg press, leg extensions or chest press using each legs or arms together will increase blood pressure greater than single leg/arm exercises.
2. The more weight lifted, the greater the blood pressure response. Avoid maximal or near maximal lifts.
3. The more repetitions performed, the greater the blood pressure response. Peak values are reached at the top of a set to exhaustion even with light loads. For this reason,hypertensives should avoid sets to failure. When effort becomes maximal at the top of a set, blood pressure might be highest.
4. The speed of lifting can also be vital. Blood pressure is lowest when lifting at controlled speeds but not too slow. Very slow lifting speeds end in greater blood pressure elevations.
5. Rest between sets also affects the blood pressure response. When rest between sets is 30-60 seconds, blood pressure tends to extend with successive sets. However, when rest was 90 seconds or greater, blood pressure was not significantly elevated during successive sets. Rest periods of 90 seconds or greater are really useful for hypertensives.
6. Another factor which plays a key role in minimizing the blood pressure response to exercise is respiratory technique. Breath holding isn’t really useful as this could result in the Valsalva manoeuvre.
7. If resting blood pressure is 180/110 mm Hg or higher, resistance training mustn’t be performed. Hypertensive individuals with systolic blood pressures between 160–179 and diastolic blood pressures between 100-109 mm Hg should seek the advice of with their doctor before starting a resistance training program.
Precautions before starting exercise program in case of Hypertension:
- Appropriate health screening must be implemented to discover at-risk individuals who may require medical clearance before they start an exercise program. Although exercise is secure for most people, there’s a small risk of cardiovascular complications in certain susceptible individuals, particularly amongst sedentary adults with known or underlying CVD who perform vigorous-intensity exercise they don’t normally engage in.
- Individuals with hypertension cleared to exercise (by the healthcare provider) must be encouraged to progress steadily, avoiding large increases in any of the components of the FITT.
- High-intensity resistance training mustn’t be initiated for individuals without prior exposure to more moderate resistance exercise independently of age, health status, or fitness level.
- Progression should begin by increasing exercise duration over the primary 4-6 week, followed by a rise in frequency and intensity to attain the really useful volume of 150 min/wk or 700-2000 kcal/wk over the subsequent 4-8 months. Progression could also be individualized based on tolerance and preference in a conservative manner.
- If hypertension is poorly controlled, heavy physical exertion in addition to maximal exercise testing must be discouraged or postponed until appropriate drug treatment has been instituted and blood pressure lowered. When exercising, it appears prudent to take care of systolic blood pressures at ≤220 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressures ≤105 mmHg.
- Antihypertensive medications resembling calcium channel blockers, β-blockers and vasodilators may result in sudden reductions in post-exercise blood pressure. Extend and monitor the cool-down period fastidiously in these situations.
- Patients must be informed concerning the nature of cardiac prodromal symptoms e.g. shortness of breath, dizziness, chest discomfort or palpitation and seek prompt medical care if such symptoms develop.
