Sports for High Blood Pressure - Run Away from High Blood Pressure Values

In addition to a tailored diet, exercise plays a significant role in the fight against high blood pressure. You can literally run away from high blood pressure.

Scientific studies show that high blood pressure does not necessarily have to be treated only with medication. A little exercise every day can indeed lower the blood pressure. Of course, this is not about high-performance sports. Cycling, tennis, jogging, or simple hiking can already lower blood pressure values by 5 to 10 mmHg. Starting with three to five times a week for 30 minutes of exercise is completely sufficient. For those who have had no exercise at all, regular walks can already help.

If you exercise a lot, you are often protected from high blood pressure just by that. However, with targeted endurance exercise, even with existing high blood pressure, blood pressure values can be lowered by about 5 to 10 mmHg. Of course, the results vary - depending on the condition of the body and the duration of the illness. But any movement is better than none!

Important! Before you start exercising, have yourself checked by your doctor!

If you already suffer from high blood pressure, it is urgently necessary to have yourself checked by your treating physician before starting to exercise. If your blood pressure is not yet stable, this must happen first to protect your body from unnecessary or even dangerous spikes in blood pressure.

If your blood pressure values are already beyond 160/95 mmHg at rest (see also Blood Pressure Normal Values), you should continuously monitor and have it checked even during training.

But even if you have been rather inactive or have done little or no sports in recent years, you should consult your doctor before starting to exercise. Especially beyond the age of 45, changes can occur that alter your previously normal blood pressure. Undergo a stress ECG, which will inform the specialist about how much strain you can handle before your blood pressure rises. If abnormally high values occur, your blood pressure must be medically adjusted before starting any physical activity.

Which Sports are Suitable?

Any type of endurance sport is positive because these sports represent a permanent underlying strain on the body - examples include walking, Nordic walking, regular brisk walking, running, or cross-country skiing. Swimming, cycling, or rowing are also options. Ball sports (when practiced moderately) like tennis or table tennis also have the advantage that the necessary partner makes the cancellation of a match less likely. Another enjoyable way to move is dancing.

Together - for example, in a training group - it is often easier to motivate yourself to exercise. Take a look at the offerings of your local sports club or gym. They usually offer various courses where you can exercise with like-minded people.

Tip: Dont demand too much from yourself. Make the exercise, especially at the beginning, so that it can be easily integrated into your daily life. This could be a walk during your lunch break, swimming a few laps after work, or cycling to work.

Since blood pressure naturally rises during exercise, light endurance sports are best suited at first. With increased endurance, moderate strength training can then also be started. Regular muscle-building training is additionally recommended, as certain metabolic changes are achieved with a larger muscle mass. These can lead, for example, to a normalization of insulin metabolism. Acquired insulin resistance often accompanies high blood pressure.

Strength Training Helps Against High Blood Pressure

No matter which sport you practice:

Initially, only a moderate load should be aimed for, which can be gradually increased. Overloading the cardiovascular system can lead to dangerous increases and spikes in blood pressure. Therefore, always have yourself guided by an experienced sports therapist.

This is especially true for muscle building with weights, to learn the correct breathing, the appropriate selection of weights, and the correct movement sequence.
The positive effect of tailored strength training on blood pressure was also shown in a Brazilian study published in 2023.

1 x, 2 x, 3 x ...? How often should you train?

If you are completely untrained, then aim for three days a week with five to ten minutes of walking or brisk walking (i.e., moderate exercise) and gradually increase this to up to 30 minutes - or even more.

Tip: Make fixed appointments with like-minded people (friends, neighbors, colleagues...) to exercise together.

If your fitness improves, you could continue with a more demanding form of exercise. If that is no longer enough for you, you can train on additional days. The optimum is to train for 30 minutes on five days a week.
Under the guidance of an experienced sports physician, you will surely succeed in better managing your blood pressure. A heart rate monitor is very helpful.

Please discuss with your cardiologist what your optimal training heart rate is - merely a rule of thumb like "the exercise heart rate should not exceed 200 minus your age" may be too strenuous for you.

Consistency is important - let your body become healthier with your efforts for better fitness!

First and foremost, exercise should be fun! If daily training or three days a week is too high a target for you, you dont have to feel guilty. Not everyone can conquer their inner couch potato to that extent - but having no exercise at all is deadly! If you have been completely inactive until now, then even the weekly walk that didnt happen before is a huge step forward!
Light exercise, increased breathing rate, and more oxygen in the lungs and body are simply healthy.

Your inner couch potato will find it increasingly difficult to deal with you. You will feel better, and after a while, you will want to do more...

Who Can Lower Their Blood Pressure Through Endurance Sports?

A doctoral student at the Institute for Sports and Preventive Medicine of Professor Tim Meyer was able to establish a correlation in her doctoral thesis that allows a prognosis of whether a person will benefit from endurance sports in terms of lowering blood pressure. In her study, she found that subjects whose blood pressure dropped below the baseline value during the resting phase after a stress test on the treadmill are highly likely to also lower their blood pressure permanently through exercise.
She was awarded the Friedrich Trendelenburg Prize of the University of Saarland for her research.

Interesting results were also achieved by subjects in an Argentine study from August 2021. All 53 participants had elevated blood pressure, which could not be lowered even with the intake of at least three antihypertensive agents. They were assigned to an observation and a control group, while the medication therapy was maintained in both groups. The observation group additionally engaged in supervised endurance sports three times a week. After 3 months, the systolic 24-hour blood pressure was reduced on average by 6.2 mmHg and the diastolic by 5.1 mmHg. In contrast, the systolic blood pressure in the comparison group even slightly increased during this time. However, not every participant in the exercise group was able to lower their blood pressure. There were both individuals in the observation group who responded exceptionally well to the program and whose blood pressure was significantly lowered, as well as so-called non-responders, for whom no reduction occurred through the exercise program.

Lower Blood Pressure Without Sweating?

Individuals whose blood pressure is in the high normal range can also benefit from the calmer sport of Tai Chi. This was found by Chinese researchers. They compared a total of 349 study participants, who were divided into two groups, either practicing Tai Chi in the Yang variant four times a week for a year or "aerobics," which does not refer to the classic aerobics of the 80s, but to endurance sports such as jogging, stair climbing, cycling, or brisk walking. After these 12 months, the participants in the Tai Chi group showed a better reduction in high normal blood pressure values than the comparison group that engaged in endurance sports. 21.8% achieved normal blood pressure values, while only 15.6% succeeded in the comparison group. It is suspected that this is due to the relaxing effect of the Tai Chi exercises. According to the researchers, Tai Chi would be well suited for prevention, i.e., the prevention of high blood pressure.

Sources

By Sabine Croci. This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (02/2024).
Information on the website and within the app cannot replace a consultation with a doctor, but can certainly complement it.

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Sports for High Blood Pressure - Run Away from High Blood Pressure Values

Who Can Lower Their Blood Pressure Through Endurance Sports?

Lower Blood Pressure Without Sweating?

Sources

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