Taking control of your fitness journey can provide you with a roadmap to better your overall health. A lack of exercise can contribute to the negative effects of high blood pressure. Small changes to your daily routine could help make a big difference in managing your blood pressure.  

A Sedentary Lifestyle is Bad for Your Health

When most people think of a sedentary lifestyle, the first thought that may come to mind is a “couch potato”. While sitting on the couch all day is one way someone can have a sedentary lifestyle, it can actually be more complex than that. Sedentary lifestyle is also sometimes referred to as the sitting disease. Think about your work situation. Are you sitting at a desk all day? In this day and age, modernized technology has amplified convenience. This makes it easier for you to barely have to lift a finger to communicate with friends, order food, watch television, or complete your work tasks.

While you might be thinking that you need to have an intensive daily workout routine to curb the effects of your sedentary lifestyle, you can reap the benefits from taking smaller steps as well.

Tips for Easy Ways to Get Active

If you haven’t exercised for quite some time, the thought of it can be intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be! Focus on just moving, whether that be walking a little bit more each day or stretching every morning when you wake up. Even small consistent steps will help to make a difference. Consider partaking in activities that you already enjoy, such as walking, biking, or swimming.  

How Does Inactivity Affect Your Body?

Having an inactive lifestyle poses some health risks and can affect your body in different ways. By not exercising regularly, you are more susceptible to disease, including heart diseases like coronary artery disease. You are also more likely to suffer from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. When you are inactive, you may experience:

● Metabolism changes

● More inflammation

● Hormonal imbalances

● Poorer blood circulation

● Loss of muscle mass

What are the benefits of exercise?

Some of the major benefits of exercising are:

● Boosts your Mood

● Reduces Stress

● Sharpens Focus

● Improves Sleep

And over time, exercise can help:

● Maintain a healthy weight

● Lower risk of Type 2 Diabetes

● Reduce risk of developing some cancers

● Lower Blood Pressure

Exercise can lower your Blood Pressure

Physical exercise directly affects your heart, helping to make it stronger. This is because your heart is a muscle. So, a stronger heart means a heart that can pump more blood while exerting less effort. This takes the force of pumping off of your arteries. As a result, your blood pressure may be easier to manage, as well as may be lowered. You could be more at risk for developing high blood pressure if you are overweight, don’t get enough exercise, consume too much salt, and smoke.

Exercise not only helps your heart muscles, but it can also assist you in your weight loss journey if you are overweight. This can help to lower your blood pressure, as well. This may not be true if your high blood pressure is a result of an underlying health condition, such as hormonal imbalances or sleep apnea.

How Much Exercise do I need?

The CDC recommends that adults require 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise and at least two days of muscle strengthening activities. If you break up the 150 minutes over 5 days a week, that's only 30 minutes a day! For people aged 65 and over, it is recommended to also do activities that help improve balance, like standing on one feet.

How Can I Calculate My Heart Rate?

You will want to determine your target training heart rate. In order to do this, you will want to figure out your average resting heart rate. In general, an adult’s resting heart rate is between 60 to 100 beats per minute. Those who are already in good physical health, tend to have lower resting heart rates. You can calculate your resting heart rate by finding your pulse on your wrist, neck, or inside of your elbow. Count the number of beats in one minute. You can also utilize a pulse oximeter or a blood pressure monitor that detects your pulse.

Talk to Your Doctor

Before making any lifestyle changes, it is typically recommended to speak about your plans with your doctor or dedicated medical professional. Your doctor will have records of your previous medical history, conditions you currently have or are predisposed to, and any medications you are on. This can help you formulate the best exercise plan that fits in with your overall health journey. This is especially true if you have:

● Chronic health conditions, including diabetes or heart disease.

● High cholesterol.

● Had a heart attack.

● Dizzy spells with physical activity.

● Recently quit smoking or are an active smoker.

Several different medications can interact with your heart rate, which may affect you when you partake in physical exercise. For some, increasing physical exercise reduces how much they need to take their blood pressure medication. Speaking with your doctor can help you determine whether or not you need to adjust your dose.

Monitor Your Progress

While you will want to ensure that your blood pressure is checked at each doctor’s visit, this may not provide you with all of the insights that you need. In situations where your blood pressure is more sporadic or difficult to manage, your healthcare provider may recommend a home blood pressure monitor. But, you can also pick one up for yourself. Utilizing a home blood pressure monitor can help you track your daily readings and better manage your high blood pressure. You can then bring these readings into your next visit to assess the progress that you have made and determine if your medication dosage should be adjusted.

SmartBP: A Smarter Way to Track Your Blood Pressure

Regularly tracking your blood pressure readings will provide you with valuable insights into how well your blood pressure medication is working, as well as if any changes need to be made. While you can discuss with your healthcare provider actionable lifestyle changes, you will also want to make sure that these changes are benefiting your overall health goals. By regularly tracking your blood pressure, you are making a change to better your health. SmartBP, a blood pressure tracker software that is compatible with GoogleFit and Apple Health, provides you with a means of recording your blood pressure measurements easily. With SmartBP, data analysis allows you to view metrics and trends with a variety of graphs, as well as information overviews. You will be able to take control of your health and discover what is, as well as what isn’t, working when it comes to your blood pressure management journey.