Exercise to reduce hypertension

 

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is often called the silent killer because you often don't know you have it. It is the leading cause of stroke and can reduce your quality of life by years. 
 

The good news is that an hour of exercise a week can reduce high blood pressure. You have to sweat for an hour though so you'll need to get 60 minutes of medium to high intensity exercise to have an effect. Break it up into three or four sessions and don't count your minutes towards the hour until you start to sweat.

What are the numbers about: For the science geeks among us, blood pressure is reported as systolic pressure over diastolic pressure.

Systolic pressure is the pressure during a heart beat.

Diastolic pressure is the pressure between heartbeats.

Normal blood pressure is considered to be lower than 120/80. Leading cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz suggests aiming for 115/75.

Your health care provider can take your blood pressure or you can often have it taken at your local pharmacy. Since I am not scheduled for a doctor visit for several months, I called my doctor's office to ask for my last reading. (I thought it would be a pain but it was easy and painless.)