Sport Helps Control Your Blood Pressure
Regular exercise is one of the best ways to maintain good health. In the case of hypertensive people it is especially indicated, because it has been proven that sport helps control blood pressure.
Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Society of Arterial Hypertension have agreed that physical exercise can have positive results in reducing the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Both diseases have hypertension among their risk factors.
What is hypertension?
The WHO defines high blood pressure, also known as high or elevated blood pressure, as a disorder in which the blood vessels suffer from high pressure that is persistent. This, of course, can harm them.
Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood pumped by the heart , against the walls of the blood vessels. If this resistance is higher than normal, the more effort the heart must exert to pump blood. And this happens every time the heart beats.
Hypertension is dangerous because it puts the heart and organs such as the kidney or brain at risk. It is the cause of the vast majority of myocardial infarctions in the world. Therefore it is important to prevent it. Sport helps control your blood pressure, and this is something the WHO added to its recommendations as early as 1989.
How does sport help control your blood pressure?
Sport helps control your blood pressure, first of all because it contributes to maintaining an adequate weight and prevents obesity. The relationship between excess adipose tissue, being overweight, obesity and high blood pressure is risky.
Sport improves the functioning of the heart, as it reduces the number of beats per minute and avoids overexertion of this organ. Athletes’ pressure levels are usually lower, because their body works better than someone who does not exercise.
Added to these benefits is the fact that regular sports practice helps control levels of anxiety, stress and depression. This also makes you feel healthier and fitter, which contributes to a positive emotional state. Good feelings are essential to prevent high blood pressure problems.
When playing sports, blood glucose and cholesterol levels are also better controlled. Both are directly related to high or elevated blood pressure and are often the trigger for myocardial infarctions or stroke.
A physical activity plan is the best
Sport helps control your blood pressure if you do it regularly. Playing sports sporadically is not the solution for high blood pressure. What needs to be done is to have a regular physical activity plan.
It is important to have the approval of the doctor to carry out an exercise routine or play sports. It is necessary that the health status of each person is evaluated, in addition to factors such as age and weight.
The ideal is to practice half an hour of sports, three times a week. Of those thirty minutes, the first ten should be warm-up; then the actual practice takes place, and finally the stretching and relaxation.
It is advisable to allow a day to pass between practice and practice so that the muscles can eliminate lactic acid, which is the cause of muscle pain.
Best sports
Although sport helps to control your blood pressure in general, some sports are the most suitable for it. Which? Endurance exercises, with aerobic metabolism and moderate competitive effort.
The most advisable sports practices are flat cycling, cross country skiing, swimming, flat walking, golf, non-extreme trekking , jogging , skating, canoeing, petanque and sport shooting.
Likewise, it is recommended to maintain the appropriate weight, reduce salt intake, live with fewer worries, reduce alcohol consumption, not smoke and maintain a healthy diet rich in potassium and fiber. It is important to avoid sports with weight overload, as they increase blood pressure.
