Many patients with high blood pressure worry that "exercise will raise their blood pressure," even daring not to go for long walks. In fact, scientific exercise not only helps lower blood pressure but also improves blood vessel elasticity, enhances physical function, relieves fatigue and joint pain, and helps the body better adapt to blood pressure changes. Therefore, exercise therapy is an important method for preventing and treating high blood pressure.

Exercise Aids in Blood Pressure Stability

Exercise is highly beneficial for the prevention and control of high blood pressure, with its main mechanisms of action being threefold.

1 Helps expand blood vessels, improving overall circulation

Prolonged adherence to moderate aerobic exercise can provide the body with sufficient oxygen, helping to break down fat, sugar, and excess cholesterol, reduce blood viscosity, decrease peripheral vascular resistance, and thereby lower blood pressure. Exercise can also increase oxygen uptake, improve cardiopulmonary function, delay atherosclerosis and stenosis of the coronary arteries, and slow the occurrence and development of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

2 Reduces oxidative stress, protecting vascular health

There are three signals in the human body related to vascular health: The level of C-reactive protein in the blood can be considered a "vascular inflammation alarm," high levels indicating potential inflammation in the blood vessels, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke; superoxide dismutase, the "antioxidant guardian," can eliminate free radicals attacking blood vessels, protecting their elasticity; and malondialdehyde is the "vascular aging byproduct," the more malondialdehyde, the more severe the blood vessel damage.

Long-term adherence to regular aerobic exercise can reduce the body's oxidative stress response, decrease vascular inflammation and damage, and fundamentally lower the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular problems.

3 Regulating psychology and spirit, soothing blood vessels

Exercise can promote the release of "happiness hormone" endorphins, helping the elderly overcome negative emotions like irritability and low spirits, while also relaxing and dilating tense blood vessels. Exercise can also reduce renin and aldosterone in the body, which cause blood vessel constriction, lower the activity of the sympathetic nerves that constrict blood vessels, and enhance the activity of the vagus nerves that relax blood vessels, making blood vessels more elastic and more sensitive to blood pressure changes. Studies show that after a period of regular moderate-intensity exercise, blood pressure can be significantly reduced.

Exercise More Effectively

For elderly patients with hypertension, exercise should follow the principles of safety, regularity, and personalization. It should be tailored to your physical condition and conducted under the guidance of a doctor. Here are three types of exercises recommended for you.

Basic Aerobic Exercise

A stable choice for lowering blood pressure

Low-intensity, long-duration aerobic exercise can continuously improve cardiopulmonary function and is the cornerstone of exercise for elderly patients with hypertension.

Recommended Programs

Simplified Tai Chi stepping: Heel lands first, step width controlled within shoulder width, speed of 60-80 steps per minute.

Slow Walking: Walk in community gardens or on flat surfaces, intensity should be "mildly breathless but able to speak normally."

Seated Leg Extension Sit on a chair with back support, place your feet on the ground, and slowly bend and straighten your knees, mimicking the motion of riding a bicycle. This is particularly suitable for people with severe joint degeneration.

Exercise Parameters

30 minutes each time, can be divided into 2 sessions (15 minutes each), 5 times a week. During exercise, keep the heart rate controlled within "170 - age".

A study divided elderly patients with hypertension into two groups, practicing Tai Chi and fitness exercises respectively, 3 times a week, 60 minutes each time. After 8 months of adherence, the study found that both exercises had good blood pressure-lowering effects, with Tai Chi being more effective.

Moderate strength training

Muscle support of blood vessels

Older people are prone to muscle loss, and loss of muscle mass can cause blood vessels to lose support and increase blood pressure fluctuations. Moderate strength training can build muscle and protect blood vessels, and can also prevent falls.

Recommended items

Elastic band practice When sitting, pull the elastic band with both hands to practice the arms; When standing, step on the elastic band with both feet to train your legs; The resistance should be able to complete 10~15 movements when exerted.

Mineral water bottle weight-bearing exercise Fill a 500ml mineral water bottle with water, use it as a dumbbell, and slowly raise your hands above your head and lower them to exercise your shoulder and upper arm muscles.

Motion parameters

Train 2~3 times a week for 15~20 minutes each time, with an interval of 1~2 days from aerobic exercise to avoid excessive physical fatigue.

Notes:

When doing strength training, you must not hold your breath. Holding your breath will increase the pressure in the chest, leading to a sudden rise in blood pressure, and it is recommended to follow the breathing rhythm of "exhaling when exerting force and inhaling when relaxing". If there are problems such as shoulder joint pain and lumbar disc herniation, please ask a rehabilitation physician to conduct a comprehensive evaluation, treat the underlying disease first, and then start exercise training step by step after the pain is relieved.

Assisted breathing and stretching

Supplementation to stabilize blood pressure

Although breathing and stretching cannot directly lower blood pressure, they can relieve vascular tension, improve post-exercise discomfort, and reduce the occurrence of sports injuries, which is an important part of exercise for elderly hypertensive patients.

Abdominal breathing Before going to bed, lie on the bed, put your hands on your abdomen, inhale slowly through your nose for 5 seconds (feel the abdomen bulge), and then exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds (feel the abdomen hollow), practicing for 5~10 minutes each time. This action activates the parasympathetic nervous system and reduces blood pressure fluctuations at night, especially for patients with "nocturnal hypertension".

Gentle stretching After sitting for a long time, you can do "shoulder and neck wrapping", that is, slowly bow your head, raise your head, turn your head left and right, and stay for 3 seconds in each movement. You can also do "leg stretching", that is, straighten one leg when sitting, hook back the toes, feel the pull on the back of the thigh, stay on each leg for 10 seconds, and stretch for 10 minutes each time. These movements relieve vasospasm and prevent blood pressure from rising due to improper posture.

The "minefield" of sports should be avoided

Don't get up in the morning to exercise vigorously

6~10 o'clock in the morning is the morning peak period of blood pressure, and the blood pressure of the elderly can be 10~20 mm Hg higher than usual. It is recommended that the elderly exercise 1 hour after breakfast.

Do not suddenly increase the amount of exercise

Usually only walking for 20 minutes, suddenly changed to 1 hour, the blood vessels have no time to adapt, which may lead to a sharp drop in blood pressure and cause orthostatic hypotension. You can increase the exercise time by 5~10 minutes per week, step by step.

No exercise when blood pressure exceeds 160/100 mm Hg

At this time, the blood vessels are in a state of high load, and exercise can easily induce myocardial infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. Patients should first control their blood pressure below 150/90 mm Hg with medication, and then try to exercise from a slow pace of 5~10 minutes.

Do not exercise on an empty stomach or after a full meal

fasting exercise is prone to hypoglycemia, which may indirectly increase blood pressure; After a full meal, especially after eating greasy food, the blood will concentrate in the stomach and intestines, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the heart.

Do not sit down or drink plenty of water immediately after exercise

After exercise, the blood vessels of the human body are in a dilated state, and sitting suddenly will cause blood to stasis in the legs, making it easy to get dizzy when getting up. Drink water in small sips, no more than 100 ml at a time, to avoid drinking a large amount of water in a short period of time to increase the burden on the heart.