Exercise is associated with a variety of benefits, particularly for your overall cardiovascular health, including hypertension.

Hypertension: Lifestyle Changes are Key

A healthy lifestyle is one necessary component for any overall treatment plan for hypertension (high blood pressure). Lifestyle remains an important component of overall health, even for individuals that are using prescription medications or supplements to control blood pressure levels. A healthy diet and lifestyle routine including exercise can reduce the need for medications or even serve to eliminate this need.

By taking the initiative to make healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle, you are strongly enhancing your ability to control your blood pressure. By achieving and maintaining a healthy blood pressure, you are decreasing you risk for the development of other conditions, including stroke, kidney disease, heart attack, dementia, and blindness.

Exercise: Lose Excess Weight

There is a strong correlation between increased blood pressure levels and the presence of excess weight. By losing excess weight, even in small amounts, it is possible to decrease your overall blood pressure.

• Calculate BMI: Check your weight to determine if you are at a normal healthy weight, overweight, or obese.
• Waist Circumference: It is important to measure the circumference of your weight in addition to the BMI calculation. Generally, women are considered to be overweight if their waist is over 35 inches, men if over 40 inches.
• Consult your Physician: It is important to include your physician in your quest for weight loss to determine the best ways to achieve your overall goals in a healthy and safe manner.
• Its time for a Change: Make changes to your diet and lifestyle. Losing weight is not an easy process, it takes time and willpower. You can do it.

Exercise: The Benefits of Regular Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is an essential part of the overall strategy to naturally achieve and maintain healthy blood pressure levels. Exercise can serve to decrease overall blood pressure while strengthening the cardiovascular system.

• Evaluation: First, evaluate your overall activity level. Are you getting the recommended exercise of 30 – 60 minutes per day the majority of days per week?
• Program Development: Discuss with your physician the development of an exercise program that is maintainable. By tailoring an exercise program to your needs, you are more likely to stick with the program, and more likely to lose weight and keep it off.
• Strength Training: Strength training is an essential piece to any exercise program as it can increase overall muscle strength, increase bone density, and increase muscle mass. This is beneficial to controlling blood pressure, but exercise caution and work at your own pace.
• Time: It is important to space out exercise, do not attempt to skip the gym all week and make up for it on the weekends. This will lead to only one word: burnout. It is also more harmful than beneficial for individuals with heart problems or high blood pressure to add this much strenuous activity. Spacing out exercise is essential.

Exercise is an essential piece to the routine of all individuals. Many times, exercise is seen not as a fun activity, but as a grueling and painful process. Keep in mind that exercise can be fun, go for a walk, ride your bike, take the kids to the park. Exercise can become a fun and integral part of your daily routine.

Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-blood-pressure/HI00027
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/guide/blood-pressure-basics
http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/tc/high-blood-pressure-hypertension-overview