Exercising with Hypertension

This week, Melanie has started to really show signs of improvement in two main areas. Firstly, the strength of the abdominals (tummy muscles) and lower back. This was a weakness I picked up on the first week, as the strength of these areas are crucial. The other main improvement has been in the ability of the lungs to cope with the cardiovascular exercise. Melanie suffers from Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA), and therefore to see an improvement is a positive sign. Although Melanie still gets out of breath, her recovery times have greatly improved, enabling us to exercise quite hard with shorter rest periods.

After last week's column on cardiovascular exercise, a few people have asked me about blood pressure, and whether or not it is safe to exercise with a high reading.A blood pressure reading tells us the amount of pressure being placed on the arterial walls. The reading will have two numbers eg. 120/80. This is because you have one reading for when the heart contracts (systolic), and one for when the heart relaxes (diastolic).A high reading is often described as 'hypertension'. There are many factors that may lead to this, such as smoking, stress, bad diet, obesity and lack of exercise. Hypertension can in some cases be very serious, affecting the heart, kidneys and liver, as well as increasing the risk of stroke.You can exercise if you suffer from hypertension - in fact exercise is an excellent way to control blood pressure levels. However, you should always consult both your GP and an exercise professional before setting out on an exercise regime. here are strict guidelines on what exercises you can and can't do, and the duration and frequency of your sessions. If these guidelines are followed, exercise can play a large part in bringing you blood pressure levels back to normal.

Melanie's Diary Week five:

I am now five weeks into my fitness challenge with Ed and I am feeling good. Every session I am noticing improvements and I am growing to enjoy all of the different aspects of fitness I am being shown. I am also getting into a rountine. On Thursday, after a full day in the office, all I wanted to do was go home and slouch on the sofa. But knowing that I was meeting Ed (and not relying on myself) and had a date and time in the diary stopped me from doing that and once the session was 10 mintues in I had a second wind and was ready for what lay ahead.  W ith the unpredicable British weather we have spent time both indoors and out this week. When outside we have concentrated on cardiovascular exercises and inside the gym we have spent a lot of time concentrating on my stomach muscles. Although I have been left aching for days ( I am told I have really worked if I have a three-day ache) I am noticing change and can feel that my tummy muscles are getting stronger week by week. I am also more confident when doing cardiovascular exercise and noticing the difference in my breathing abilities. S o far so good and let the change keep on coming.