Moving Through Your Day Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

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Moving Through Your Day Can Lower Your Blood Pressure

One out of every three American adults has high blood pressure. If you’re one of them, it’s a fact that regular exercise can help bring your numbers down. Less than an hour of aerobic exercise a week can do the trick.

In one study, researchers selected more than 200 people with high blood pressure who had been inactive for the past year. They asked part of the group to start exercising and continue for eight weeks. At the end of the eight weeks, people who clocked any amount of aerobic exercise—from 30 minutes to more than two hours a week—dropped their blood pressure significantly. Walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a stationary bike were the most common activities. But people who didn’t exercise had no changes in their blood pressure.

In general, regular exercise lowers systolic blood pressure about 11 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure about 8 mm Hg.

One Hour Plus Boasts Biggest Benefits

Exercising 61 to 90 minutes a week had a bigger impact on systolic blood pressure than exercising 30 to 60 minutes a week. But there were no added blood pressure benefits for people who exercised more than 90 minutes a week. In addition, the amount of exercise didn’t make much difference in diastolic blood pressure—any amount of exercise seemed to help.
Frequency of exercise during the week also didn’t seem to affect the degree to which exercise lowered blood pressure.

Beginners Should Start Out Slowly

Ready to work out? You should see your doctor first if you take medicine for your high blood pressure. It’s also smart to check with your doctor if you have had a heart attack or stroke, or have heart disease or another serious health condition.
To get started on an exercise plan, try these suggestions:

  • Start slowly.
  • Consider asking a friend along to keep you company.
  • Not sure how hard you need to work during your workout? You should raise your heart rate and breathing rate but still be able to have a conversation.
  • Switch activities so you don’t get bored. For example, walk some days and bike others.

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