Physical exercise has long been known to be effective at managing blood pressure when there are no medical contraindications; aerobic activities like cycling may prove especially helpful in doing this.
Exercise may increase systolic blood pressure if you suffer from prehypertension or high blood pressure; in this article, we’ll look at ways exercise can exacerbate this rise and how to effectively manage it with the appropriate training regimen.
Vasodilation
Vasodilation occurs when blood vessels widen to increase blood flow while decreasing pressure on their walls, increasing flow and decreasing tension on them. This process is normal and necessary, providing oxygen and nutrients to areas in the body where they’re most needed.
Vasodilation occurs due to relaxation of muscle vessels in blood vessels, hormonal signals and your nervous system working together to relax their muscles. This also helps your temperature by increasing blood flow to your skin’s surface – some medications such as nitrous oxide and the hormone epinephrine cause vasodilation.
Vasodilation can be beneficial in providing oxygen to all your cells. But in extreme cases, it may require emergency treatment to restore normal levels. Signs include altered mental state, pale skin or rapid breathing as well as shallow or rapid breathing patterns. Using the drug epinephrine could reverse blood pressure drops and improve breathing by constricting vessels.
Sympathetic Activation
Your sympathetic nervous system becomes active during potentially life-threatening or stressful situations to accelerate heart rate, increase oxygen supply to areas needing it more and take other actions necessary for escape. It also controls digestion, urination and sweating processes.
Nerve cells transmit signals from organs in your chest and abdomen to a brain structure called the hypothalamus via spinal and cranial nerves, before discharging these signals onto other areas in your brain, including an amygdala-related area that helps you respond to fear or stress.
The RAAS plays an essential role in cardiovascular homeostasis through direct actions on blood vessels as well as modulation of the autonomic nervous system. It inhibits parasympathetic activity by binding to and blocking a receptor for angiotensin II (Ang II). Elevated levels of Ang II are linked with hypertension; its elevated levels could play an integral role in its development, maintenance, pathophysiology and pathology – and the RAAS may play a significant part in essential hypertension’s development, maintenance and pathophysiology.
Aerobic Adaptations
Aerobic exercise causes both acute and chronic changes to our bodies that are designed to meet its metabolic demands. These adjustments aim at meeting increased demands on cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.
Regular exercise strengthens the heart, making it less effortful to pump blood around. This reduces force on arteries and, potentially, blood pressure.
Doctors refer to those whose systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood-pressure reading) remains high despite taking medications as having “resistant hypertension.” A small study revealed that regular aerobic exercises like walking or cycling may also benefit these people.
Study participants participated in three 20 to 60-minute aerobic exercise sessions per week for 12 weeks while continuing to take anti-hypertensive medications, and found their systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased as a result of aerobic exercise sessions. According to their authors, this research could be applied clinically – doctors may consider encouraging hypertensive patients to enroll regularly in aerobic exercise programs for optimal blood pressure management.
Dizziness
Dizziness from cycling rarely presents itself to individuals with normal blood pressure; however, those with elevated blood pressure may be more prone to feeling dizzy due to their condition or medication; dehydration may also lower your blood pressure significantly and cause lightheadedness.
Hypertensives should take certain precautions to help combat their condition. One such measure would be drinking plenty of water while exercising; this will prevent dehydration and ultimately lower their blood pressure.
Reducing exercise monotony means adding variety to your exercise regime. Switch up rowing with riding, shadowboxing, shadowbashing or any other physical activity you enjoy doing each day for optimal health – rowing one day, riding another, shadowboxing etc – can give your muscles, joints and lungs time to recover, while making exercises enjoyable! So get out that old bike and give it a spin; your heart (and blood pressure!) will thank you!https://www.youtube.com/embed/yzqaEwXfiLo