Exercise and Hypertension

High Blood Pressure? Lose Weight With Exercise

By Malia Frey, About.com Guide

Updated August 27, 2012

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor may have recommended that you lose weight with exercise. But starting an exercise program and trying to lose weight while managing hypertension can be confusing. Use this article as a starting point, along with advice from your physician, to come up with a plan that works for you.

Exercise Benefits for People Who Have High Blood Pressure

One of the greatest benefits of starting an exercise program is weight loss. Losing even a small amount of weight can bring your blood pressure numbers into the normal range. But even if weight loss doesn’t happen right away, just participating in a regular program of moderate exercise can have a positive effect on hypertension.

But the benefits don’t end there. Increasing your physical activity level can also help to decrease your risk of heart disease, prevent type 2 diabetes, reduce stress, decrease your body fat and improve your cholesterol levels. These are all improvements that will boost your overall health profile.

How to Lose Weight Safely

If you’ve been diagnosed with hypertension, be sure to discuss any new fitness program with your doctor. Mary Moon, M.D., a practicing family physician, counsels many of her patients to lose weight. She explains that many of them have high blood pressure along with other conditions including obesity or type 2 diabetes. While a weight loss exercise program may improve these conditions, she explains that it is important to seek specific guidelines.

“There is no question that exercise is an essential element that will help normalize blood pressure but individuals need to make sure they are doing the right exercises at the right intensity tailored to their particular exercise level or else it may be dangerous for them.”

She recommends that you start off slowly and gradually increase the time and intensity of your workout as your exercise tolerance improves.

Exercise Guidelines for People Who Have High Blood Pressure

When you discuss a weight loss program with your physician, you can use these guidelines as a starting point for setting up goals. Then, tailor a schedule that works for you.

• The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week for treatment of high blood pressure.


• The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes each day (most days of the week) to achieve heart health.


• The American College of Sport Medicine recommends at least 250 minutes per week of moderate intensity exercise to achieve significant weight loss.

If you are on blood pressure medication, you should also talk to your physician about the best way to monitor your exercise intensity. To lose weight, you want to make sure that you are working at the correct exercise intensity level, but some methods of measuring your level may not be effective if you are on a prescription pill. Heart rate monitors, for example, might not work if your medication keeps your heart beating at a steady rate.

Getting Started with a Program

Whether your goal is to control your high blood pressure, lower your blood pressure or just to prevent hypertension, a weight loss program that includes exercise will help you reach your goals. Get started by talking to your health care team. Then, come up with a plan that you are willing and able to stick to over the long term. 

_{Sources:
High Blood Pressure. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm
Mary Moon, M.D., Interview. August 21, 2012.
Prevention and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. Title of Page. American Heart Association. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/PreventionTreatmentofHighBloodPressure/Prevention-Treatment-of-High-Blood-Pressure_UCM_002054_Article.jsp
Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/bp/bp.htm
American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM Position Stand on Physical Activity and Weight Loss. Accessed: August 21, 2012. http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/acsm-in-the-news/2011/08/01/acsm-position-stand-on-physical-activity-and-weight-loss-now-available}

  

My Thoughts

I've been lucky!  I've never experienced high blood pressure. But this doesn't mean I shouldn't be careful.  Put the extra pounds and the age factor together - that makes anyone a candidate for hypertension.

30 minutes of moderate activity everyday - that's not asking much, is it?   I think I'd rather push myself to walk or to clean the house instead of making that trip to the drugstore for maintenance medicine.

Just be careful - remember I do not have hypertension.  I do not need to consult a doctor.  If you've already been diagnosed with this medical condition, you should be guided accordingly.