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There are several types of activities and exercises you can perform to naturally lower your blood pressure.
Most people that have high blood pressure do not show any signs or symptoms, even at dangerous levels. Some people with early stages of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, may experience dull headaches or nose bleeds, but if high blood pressure goes unchecked, most people are not even aware of the problem until it has already reached dangerous or even life-threatening levels.
Therefore, it is important to watch your diet, perform proper exercise, and periodically check your blood pressure. Annual physicals are always recommended.
It is recommended to have your blood pressure checked by your doctor at least once every two years starting at age 20, and more frequently as the years go on. If you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure once in your life, you should be checked frequently. It is easy to check your own blood pressure with a machine at home, or you can often even find one at the mall or local pharmacy. However, these machines can give variable results, so they are not a replacement for a doctor’s exam. Even children age three and older get their blood pressure checked. It is important for everyone!
There are many types of exercise that will help improve your high blood pressure, as well as experience the other benefits they have to offer.
Endurance exercises, such as walking, jogging, swimming, stair climbing and biking are great ways to improve your overall health, as well as your blood pressure. Resistance exercises, done at high repetitions and lower weight levels, are another great way to help improve hypertension. Combining two of the above exercises will help improve your health, appearance, stamina and blood pressure levels. They types of endurance exercises performed in a setting like CROSSFIT 619 are also a great option.
If you are overweight, losing the extra pounds will also help hypertension. Following a healthy diet of whole foods, combined with exercise, will show almost immediate results.
Many fitness conscious people today focus their dietary plan on a higher intake of proteins from lean sources, such as chicken, and low carbohydrates. Combing this with a daily hard workout in the gym, they expect to see results – fat burning and lean muscle building. However, sometimes no matter how hard they try, they just don’t see results. Even though they are working out hard, doing cardio and eating as they think they should, they are not gaining muscle, do not notice a significant fat loss and see reoccurring health problems and injury!
Something must be missing. It is important to look at all the important elements of you diet to ensure that you are meeting your body’s daily needs.
Potassium is a good example. Though many sources say that most people do not experience a lack of potassium in their diets because it is found in such a wide variety of food sources, it is also one that can be overlooked by the most fitness-conscious people. If you are consuming a diet which gets your lean protein from poultry and is low in carbohydrates, dairy and fruits, you may not be getting enough potassium.
Potassium is an important element in our diet because:
* A diet low in potassium and high in sodium may be one of the factors that lead to high blood pressure.
* Athletes involved in hard exercise may require larger quantities of potassium-rich foods.
* Potassium is found in meats, milk, fruits and vegetables.
Potassium, along with calcium, is an electrolyte utilized in the nervous system, muscle function, fluid balance and heart, kidney and adrenal functions. A deficiency in potassium can result in weakness, fatigue and heart problems.
These are all huge road blocks in our fat burning and muscle building plans.
Some recommendable potassium-rich foods are:
Fish, such as tuna and flounder
Avocado
Cantaloupe
Dried Fruits (be careful of the sugar so use only as a supplement!)
Kiwi
Lima beans
Nuts
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Wheat Bran
Yogurt and Milk products
If you are noticing your energy levels are declining, check to see if you are getting enough potassium in your diet. It is important to periodically check our dietary plans to make sure we are on track in all areas!
For more information on fitness and nutrition, pay a visit to Chris Keith anytime!
