Weight Training and HBP - High & Low Blood Pressure Message Board

Captain Danger · 01-29-2005, 10:21 AM

First of all...this is a great board. I found it on a web search and you folks are great! Quick question: Is there any consensus about weight training raising BP? Some sources say you should never pick up a weight and some say it's just fine. I really hope it's OK...sitting on bikes and rowing machines is B-O-R-I-N-G. THANKS!

Lenin · 01-29-2005, 10:36 AM

Certain precautions should be taken, Captain.

One is to make sure that you EXHALE during the strength phase of the exercise. It's extremely important with chest exercises like bench presses. Holding your breath uses the firm chest as a splint to ease the lift, but doing that raises the BP a lot. A clue is to watch the faces of some bench pressers (and squatters) turn red/purple in the face during the PUSH. One can only IMAGGINE the BP at this point.
Bikes, treadmills, stairmasters and rowing machines (HATE the last worst of all) are as boring as reading cereal boxes but are really good for cardiac health.

But heck, we've got to look good in a pair of Speedos too...so bring on the resistance training!

Captain Danger · 01-30-2005, 09:07 AM

Thanks V.I.! It sounds like you have quite a bit of experience with this. I'm a pretty serious workout guy (albeit one with HBP) but my doctor just nods and says "all of it helps" when I ask him about the effect of exercise on BP. How many days a week do you do resistance vs. cardio? My BP has been 105/65 (sometimes lower, sometimes higher) or so for almost 9 months and I don't want to go messing up a good thing just b/c I want to look a certain way.

mrmojo · 01-30-2005, 03:54 PM

When I am working out (right now I'm not because I've been feeling like crap & my weights are in an unheated shop) I do 1/2 hour on the nordic trac (its inside) 5 days a week & three days, (mon, wed, fri) I do a full workout on the weight rack (immediatly after finishing the noric trac while my pulse is still up) , high number of reps with medium weight (whatever I can do at least 75 reps of), that combo seems to work for both the cardio & toning the body

I used to do heavy lifting and whenever i skipped a few days the muscle would turn to fat, plus too much bulk & i couldnt play baseball as well

I monitor my pulse while on the nordictrack & take my BP before & after, if you start easy & see what your BP does after a mild workout you can increase it slowly until you are sure it wont cause a problem

Lenin · 01-30-2005, 06:01 PM

Captain Danger...

My doctor says: "It can't hurt" as the answer to all questions. What that proves is that he still has the power of speech!

SIncerely
V. I.

Anyhoo, I do heavy resistance Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and aerobics (bike, treadmil, etc. Tues, Thurs, Sat...and on the Seventh Day, I resteth!
God do I hate the T,T,S routine.