Exercise to lower blood pressure

[Alan]

Exercise helps, but I had to go to a strict monitoring of my diet to get sodium intake below 1500 mg to get to a safe BP. (My high BP is definitely linked to sodium intake, and I have years of daily logs to back that up. The R squared coefficient of determination is about 0.85)

From last week's logs, the average BP and pulse:
weekly morning 102/70 49
weekly evening 103/69 52

I do 5 one hour sessions of cardio training a week. Age 61

That is really good to hear success stories like this. I hope to keep my BP in control with exercise and diet as long as I can.

 

[audreyh1]

Here is a zone calculator I used a year ago. It sets the Max heart rate by a slightly different age formula that only reduces HR Max by 0.5 a year after 30 years of age.

And you put in your resting heart rate to get your target zones.
Heart Rate Zones - Calculate Now

My resting pulse rate dropped recently. I think that's progress!

 

[Alan]

Here is a zone calculator I used a year ago. It sets the Max heart rate by a slightly different age formula that only reduces HR Max by 0.5 a year after 30 years of age.

And you put in your resting heart rate to get your target zones.
Heart Rate Zones - Calculate Now

My resting pulse rate dropped recently. I think that's progress!

I think that is indeed progress, congratulations.

 

[audreyh1]

I think that is indeed progress, congratulations.

It's back down to where it was somewhat consistently mid 2012 when I was doing a lot of rowing which is pretty high heart rate work for me.

Looking at older records it wasn't often that low - just when I was a lot younger (from memory). Glad to be back there!

 

[Alan]

Results from Cardiologist appointment

I passed with flying colors


The only thing worth a discussion was the 48 hour heart monitor which did show 3 times that there was a 2 second pause between beats. 14.5 hours with the HR below 50, lowest was 43, but no concern given the result from the nuclear stress test.


The echo showed all chambers, valves and heart walls normal.


At first he said the treadmill stress test was excellent then said it was better than excellent given my age as I went for just short of 14 minutes.


He said he'll see me in 6 months and if no change then annually. I asked what to do if it happens again and he said that unless I was really dizzy or was short of breath or had chest pains then just lie down until the rhythm normalizes. He said he would expect more chance of it happening again once I'm on the other side of 65, but the current risk of a repeat event is <1%




...and to keep taking an aspirin a day.


The holiday starts tomorrow!! (driving to California for the first stage of a 6 month driving trip)

 

[audreyh1]

I passed with flying colors

The only thing worth a discussion was the 48 hour heart monitor which did show 3 times that there was a 2 second pause between beats. 14.5 hours with the HR below 50, lowest was 43, but no concern given the result from the nuclear stress test.

The echo showed all chambers, valves and heart walls normal.

At first he said the treadmill stress test was excellent then said it was better than excellent given my age as I went for just short of 14 minutes.

He said he'll see me in 6 months and if no change then annually. I asked what to do if it happens again and he said that unless I was really dizzy or was short of breath or had chest pains then just lie down until the rhythm normalizes. He said he would expect more chance of it happening again once I'm on the other side of 65, but the current risk of a repeat event is <1%

...and to keep taking an aspirin a day.

The holiday starts tomorrow!! (driving to California for the first stage of a 6 month driving trip)

That's really great Alan! And I'm sure a huge relief for you.

Have a great trip!!!

 

[bbbamI]

Oh my goodness....the best news I've heard all day!

See...you got my cardio goin'!

Truly wonderful news at anytime, but right before your holiday...priceless!

 

[powerplay]

That is really great news Alan!

Hope you enjoy your holiday and keep us posted on your adventures.
Happy travels!

 

[Helen]

That's fantastic news, Alan! Thank you for sharing.

 

[eytonxav]

I bet he doesn't get many that last 14 minutes on the treadmill, congrats on the good report Alan.

 

[jabbahop]

great news alan. I get an embedded heart monitor tomorrow to keep an eye on my tachycardia to see if it warrants any treatment. $20K for a "thumbdrive" inserted below the skin of my chest - thankful for insurance as my portion is only $2K


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Alan]

Thanks everyone, I even managed to get the Doc's office to cut a physical check for the $660 they owed me, since they apparently can't do credits to a credit card and I told them I leaving for 6 months next day so mailing a check was no good.

 

[swakyaby]

Really good news--no intracardiac thrombus, so no need for anticoagulants. And the stress test--impressive indeed!

 

[Alan]

Really good news--no intracardiac thrombus, so no need for anticoagulants. And the stress test--impressive indeed!

Thanks.

He did tell me to keep taking the aspirin a day that I started taking on advice from my Doc when the AFib happened in March.

 

[kneehigh]

I was doing HIIT similar to your regiment Alan for many years and my bp was 50/<100. In the last couple of years, I have not been as disciplined because of back issues along with headaches. When I hiked with a heart monitor, my heart beat could go up as high as 170. It felt like it was going to explode, but it was exhilaration. But you remind me that I was in the best of shape when I was doing it religiously so I’m going start up again and try to do it more consistently. I'm 58 yo btw.

 

[Alan]

I was doing HIIT similar to your regiment Alan for many years and my bp was 50/<100. In the last couple of years, I have not been as disciplined because of back issues along with headaches. When I hiked with a heart monitor, my heart beat could go up as high as 170. It felt like it was going to explode, but it was exhilaration. But you remind me that I was in the best of shape when I was doing it religiously so I’m going start up again and try to do it more consistently. I'm 58 yo btw.

As my old pappy never said, "If you don't use it, you lose it".

I think the best thing I can do is to work through the pain in the joints and keep them moving. I've had to give up running and any sort of impact sport or exercise because of my back. If I wasn't retired I wouldn't have time to fit in all the regular physio, stretching and strength training exercises for my back, shoulder (tendonosis) and foot (plantar fasciitis), to be able to do all the walking and hiking we enjoy so much.

 

[HFWR]

 

[audreyh1]

As my old pappy never said, "If you don't use it, you lose it".

I think the best thing I can do is to work through the pain in the joints and keep them moving. I've had to give up running and any sort of impact sport or exercise because of my back. If I wasn't retired I wouldn't have time to fit in all the regular physio, stretching and strength training exercises for my back, shoulder (tendonosis) and foot (plantar fasciitis), to be able to do all the walking and hiking we enjoy so much.

I have a lot of trouble with my knees. For this reason I avoid anything high impact like jumping, jogging, etc.

Sometimes when I step up my exercise level, I experience some knee pain. But I have found that it's usually due to one or more of the muscles or tendons in my legs being tight (as a result of the exercise). So if I'm good about stretching often, I can avoid, or at least greatly reduce any knee pain from exercise.

So I think some of the joint issues can be managed by appropriate stretching, just like you indicate.