High blood pressure in humans imposes a number of important restrictions on everyday life. Quite often, patients are interested in whether any physical activity is permissible for hypertension, and whether these actions will harm their health? It should be noted that sport is not prohibited, but it is very important to follow medical advice and take into account the possible consequences. Below you can learn in more detail what physical activities with hypertension are allowed, and which ones should be discarded altogether.
Sport and hypertension
How will sport affect a person who suffers from high blood pressure? Physical exercises for hypertension are not prohibited, on the contrary, they are useful and are even recommended to patients by specialists. However, the issue of playing sports with this disease must be approached with all responsibility and thoroughness. First of all, you need a doctor’s consultation, you should also choose the right type of exercise with hypertension.
Refuse sports is necessary in certain cases. These include the following:
- impending crisis;
- deterioration in well-being during physical education;
- hypertension of 3 degrees;
- any ailments.
In addition, during classes, changes in heart rate and blood pressure should be carefully monitored. This control is carried out using a special device designed for athletes.
A very important role in choosing the type of physical activity will be played by the age of the patient and the stage of hypertension. For example, elderly patients with grade 3 hypertension will have to abandon classes and physical activity in order to avoid the development of a crisis. As for physical activity with grade 2 hypertension, this will be discussed in detail below.
It should also be noted that there are complexes of exercises, including respiratory, which can normalize the patient’s pressure and improve his general well-being. These workouts are recommended for people with an initial degree of hypertension as a key therapeutic agent.
Sport choice
What physical activities can be selected for hypertension? When choosing a sport for hypertension as a therapeutic agent, you need to consult with a specialist about what physical activity will bring more benefits to the health of the patient.
What kind of sport you can engage in will depend on the stage of the disease. Doctors most often recommend isotonic varieties of physical activity, which include exercises that involve only large muscles or the entire body at once. Such training can improve the functioning of the heart muscle and help oxygen enter the brain cells. However, it is necessary to avoid isometric loads, which include strength exercises aimed at individual muscle groups. During these exercises, blood pressure rises rapidly, which can provoke very negative consequences.
So, what physical activities are allowed? Patients with hypertension can be engaged in:
- swimming
- Yoga
- aqua aerobics;
- breathing exercises;
- Walking
- running at a slow pace;
- sport dancing.
Recommended physical activity for hypertension of the 2nd degree and 1 degree are specific complex exercises developed by doctors specifically in order to normalize blood pressure indicators. These trainings are called LFK in medicine, being a truly therapeutic method in the fight against the disease.
When choosing physical activity for hypertension with excess weight, it is recommended to pay attention to a bike ride around the city. Such walks not only strengthen the heart muscle, but the whole body of the patient as a whole. Classes will also be an excellent prevention of stress and improve the quality and duration of sleep. The main thing is to choose a moderate pace and not overstrain your muscles, avoiding a sharp increase in heart rate. In addition, you can replace cycling on the street with exercise on a stationary bike.
The benefits of running
We examined what physical. hypertension loads are allowed. But what is the use of them? When choosing exercise for hypertension, patients are strongly recommended to run. A daily morning or evening run at a calm pace will help:
- improving heart muscle function;
- pressure reduction;
- normalization of tone in the vessels;
- supplying the brain with oxygen;
- improving health and strengthening the body as a whole.
Running should be at a slow or moderate pace. An individual patient should choose his own running speed based on his heart rate.
Please note that during running, the pulse should be within normal limits. It is possible to identify acceptable boundaries by taking your own age from 220. This value cannot be increased. Therefore, having noticed an increase in heart rate, you need to take a short break in training.
In order for jogging to bring maximum benefits to the health of the cardiovascular system, you should strive to run as long as possible, but not faster. In addition, the load should increase gradually. During the first week, the duration of the runs should not be more than 15 minutes. Then, with each next week, the time should increase by 5-7 minutes. The frequency of such training should be individually adjusted by the patient depending on his well-being.
As you can see, the effect of physical activity in the form of running on the health of hypertension is great. Specialists recommend running on the street. Training in the fresh air will only positively affect the work of the entire nervous system, they can improve breathing and relieve stress. In cold weather, workouts on the treadmill at home or in the gym are allowed.
Bodybuilding at high blood pressure
What else can be said about physical activity? Pressure indicators can also be improved with regular exercise in the fitness room. Training in the gym with hypertension is not prohibited. However, when choosing bodybuilding with increasing pressure, you should adhere to some recommendations:
- exercise must begin with warm-ups;
- alternate exercises for different areas of the body;
- before training, you can’t eat sweets, as this only increases the load on the heart muscle;
- during an hour's workout you can drink no more than 500 ml of water;
- it is necessary to control breathing, while avoiding shortness of breath;
- classes should begin with exercises on the lower extremities.
In addition, during classes in the fitness room, it is necessary to exclude exercises that should be performed with head bowed. As for the choice of simulators, you need to give your preference to those who have the opportunity to change the degree of load.
In order to avoid possible complications when exercising in the gym, you should deal with the supervision of a qualified trainer. The best choice is classes in the gym with a specialist who has experience training with hypertension.
During classes, you should carefully monitor the fluctuations in your heart rate and overall well-being. In case of lack of oxygen, with dizziness or the appearance of a pulsation of blood in the ears, exercises should be discontinued.
Thus, we can say that bodybuilding is not the most ideal choice for hypertensive patients, because the levels of physical activity are high.
Bubnovsky method
Choosing exercises and physical education for hypertensive patients, experts give their preference to exercises precisely according to the Bubnovsky method. When choosing between different sports that require special physical training and the Bubnovsky method, the last option is most often recommended for patients suffering from hypertension. An undoubted plus is that all exercises are performed very easily, since the training is designed specifically for hypertensive patients of all ages. This complex consists of such exercises that can be easily done independently at home. Let's consider the execution technique in more detail:
- The starting position is to lie on your back, bend your legs at the knees, stretch your arms along the body, squeeze your palms into a fist. From this position, you need to straighten your legs, lift them up, and then return again to their original position. The repetition rate is 6-8 times.
- Continue training should diaphragmatic breathing. It is necessary to make 5-6 exhalations and breaths, lying on your back on a flat surface.
- Lying on your back, you need to extend the straight upper limbs behind the head, and then raise the upper region of the body, while at the same time raising your hands behind your back. Repeat this exercise 8 times.
- Then again, you should do a relaxing exercise - stretch your legs, while lying on your back, then alternately strain the femoral muscles, and then relax them. This voltage should be kept for about three seconds. The number of repetitions is 5 times.
- The workout will be completed by the following exercise: lie on your back, raise one leg, leave the other pressed to the floor. With a raised limb, make 5-7 circular movements, and then change the leg. Perform this exercise 6-8 times.
There are several more options for training Bubnovsky. The above option is the simplest, everyone is able to cope with this set of exercises, regardless of age, as well as physical fitness. Most exercises can be done independently at home, as mentioned earlier.
Respiratory gymnastics according to the method of Strelnikova
The breathing exercises according to the Strelnikova method are universal exercises for hypertension, as well as for hypertension of the 2nd degree. Such exercises are used not only to normalize blood pressure, but also as a prophylaxis of such a complication as hypertensive crisis. No wonder this breathing exercises is often called a cure for many diseases. Step-by-step instructions will help you learn to do exercises according to the Strelnikova method:
- Take 3 superficial short breaths with your nose. Three nose breaths should take no more than 2 seconds.
- Then breathe out slowly with your mouth. Air is exhaled after 2 seconds, but only by one exhalation.
- When breathing in, you need to strain your chest.
If you want to benefit from breathing exercises, it is recommended to perform such breathing exercises every day for 30 minutes. The course of exercises, as a rule, takes at least two months.
The gymnast according to Strelnikova’s method has no contraindications, and can also be performed for any degree of hypertension. During colds and in diseases of the upper respiratory tract, you need to abandon the exercises until complete recovery.
Contraindications and precaution
Not everyone knows what is forbidden to do with hypertension. In this case, it is necessary to abandon heavy strength training with lifting heavy weights. In addition, long aerobic exercise is prohibited.
Experts say that it is important to follow some precautions. During a deterioration in well-being, the training must be stopped. In no case should you engage in sports and physical activity with increasing pressure to critical levels, as well as with hypertensive crisis. Heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart rate above the permissible value are an excuse to immediately stop exercising.
Sports with stage 2 disease
With hypertension of the second stage, you can engage in sports. In this case, preference is given to breathing exercises, swimming, cycling and physiotherapy exercises. In addition, it is important to carefully monitor any changes in blood pressure. So you can take appropriate measures in a timely manner with its increase.
With stage 3 hypertension, only breathing exercises are allowed, and intense exercise and exercise are strictly prohibited.
Noticeable improvements in well-being should be expected no earlier than after 2 months of regular classes and training.
Symptoms of Hypertension
Heart attacks and strokes cause death in almost 70% of cases worldwide. 7 out of 10 people die due to blockage of the arteries of the brain or heart. Especially scary is the fact that a large number of people do not even suspect that they have hypertension. For this reason, they miss the opportunity to change something, simply condemning themselves to death. Signs of hypertension:
- Heart palpitations.
- Headache.
- Flies before your eyes.
- Blurry vision.
- Apathy, drowsiness, irritability.
- Chronic fatigue.
- Sweating.
- Chills and numbness of fingers.
- Swelling of the face.
- Pressure surges.
Conclusion
Even if you have one of these symptoms, you need to think about it. And if there are two signs of the disease, then you should definitely consult a doctor. How to overcome hypertension when there is currently a huge amount of drugs that cost a lot of money?
Most drugs will not bring benefits, and some can even harm your health (in the case of self-medication)! But you should not give up physical exertion.