Sports against high blood pressure
In addition to weight reduction, it is possible to significantly lower blood pressure through sport. According to current studies, it is possible to lower the high blood pressure values of 5 to 10mmHg through sensible and efficient training. Depending on the initial situation, normal blood pressure values can be achieved through sport alone and without drug therapy.
One should do at least three times a week for 30 minutes of sport. The motto here is: the more exercise, the better – but a little exercise is also much better than doing nothing. You should bear in mind that it is only a matter of doing light endurance training.
The sports programme not only trains the heart, but can also lead to weight loss. Stress, which can also lead to high blood pressure, is reduced. If you want to train more or have not done any sport for a longer period of time, you should consult a sports physician for advice and examination and, if necessary, have your exercise capacity measured on a bicycle ergometer.
Endurance sports such as jogging, cycling, swimming, Nordic walking or cross-country skiing are particularly suitable. But even a simple 30-minute walk every day has a significant effect on blood pressure. So you don’t have to become a sports ace overnight and do intensive sports every day.
At the beginning it is quite sufficient to teach the body to change from a complete lack of exercise to regular exercise. The important thing is not to overexert yourself and push yourself to the limits of your performance; it is much more effective to train with stamina and repeat possible exercises several times. In general, you should pay attention to regularity, no matter which endurance sport you choose.
To ensure this, it makes sense to do sports that you enjoy, so that the motivation and positive associations ensure that you stay on the ball. It can also be helpful to set your own small goals that you can work towards. Rough guidelines to orientate oneself by include about 30 minutes a day or 3 hours a week.
The general advantage of endurance sports is that there are no so-called “load peaks” with extremely high blood pressure values. On the one hand, these carry the risk of sudden cardiac death, and on the other hand, this type of sport does not have a blood pressure-lowering effect in the long term. In strength sports, there is also the risk that incorrect breathing techniques (“squeeze breathing”) during the exercises may cause the heart to pump against increased resistance, resulting in overexertion.
Strength training is only recommended for older people, as it helps to maintain the muscles. Regardless of which sport you do, as a patient with blood pressure values above 160mmHg to 95mmHg, you must always have a stress test performed beforehand. On a bicycle ergometer, you can test your resilience and at the same time measure your blood pressure and write an ECG.
This is important because blood pressure values of 180mmHg to 200mmHg must never be exceeded during training, otherwise there is an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. If you decide to counteract hypertension with sports, this initial examination is mandatory. The mechanism that causes the blood pressure lowering effect is that there is a low catecholamine release both at rest and in stress situations.
Normally, the catecholamines stimulate the sympathetic nervous system; however, if the release is inhibited, the sympathetic nervous system activity decreases, resulting in vasodilation in the periphery. In general, the plan to lower blood pressure through sport is very promising. As already mentioned, training can lower blood pressure values by 5 to 10mmHg.
The higher the initial values are, the more the blood pressure can be lowered. With the duration of training, however, the blood pressure lowering effect understandably stagnates at a certain point. It is considered proven that the risk of suffering a stroke or coronary heart disease as well as the cardiovascular mortality rate can be enormously reduced by exercising to lower blood pressure.
The diet should be based on the “Mediterranean cuisine”, i.e. dishes from the Mediterranean region, e.g. Italy, France, Spain, Turkey and Greece. This recommendation comes from the fact that cardiovascular diseases are observed less frequently in these countries.
Particularly important in the Mediterranean diet are the use of fresh vegetables (peppers, courgettes, aubergine, cucumber, tomatoes, olives), fresh herbs (such as basil, rosemary, oregano, sage and mint), seafood and fish. Although different countries have different eating habits, they all have in common the use of fresh ingredients, and often olive oil and onions, leeks and garlic. In addition, one should pay attention to reducing the consumption of common salt in the diet, because salt (sodium chloride) also leads to increased blood pressure values.
In general, Germans consume too much table salt on average. The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends a daily consumption of a maximum of 10 grams of table salt, in case of high blood pressure one should stay below 6 grams per day. A lot of salt is found in cured meat, in some types of cheese and finished products. However, the influence on lowering blood pressure is controversial and the more effective measure remains weight reduction.
