One of the most serious health ailments affecting people all over the United States today is high blood pressure and hypertension. Overall, this is suspected of affecting nearly 65 million people. Those that have high blood pressure are far more likely to suffer from heart attacks, strokes, and a variety of other serious health concerns.

For those that are looking to reduce their high blood pressure, finding a way to eat a healthier diet, reduce salt intake, and control drinking and smoking is very important. However, one of the best things that someone can do to control their blood pressure is to exercise on a regular basis. Exercising can help to reduce blood pressure in a number of different ways.

Helps You Lose Weight

One of the most direct ways that exercise can lead to a reduction in blood pressure is that it can help you to lose weight. When you exercise on a regular basis, you will lose body fat and build lean muscle mass. When your body weight decreases, the amount of blood pressure will also decrease. Beyond that, when you continue to exercise, the increased lean muscle mass will help to ensure that your body is working more efficiently. This can also help to make blood pressure medication more effective.

Improves Metabolism

One of the reasons why exercising on a regular basis can help you to lose weight is because it will help to improve your metabolism. Specifically, resistant weight training has been shown to improve your metabolic rate for an extended period of time. Overall, this can help to make your heart much stronger. Once your heart is stronger, blood will be pumped through the body more efficiently. This will then reduce blood pressure and the force on your cardiovascular system.

Helps to Manage Stress

Beyond being overweight and eating a poor diet, one of the biggest causes of higher blood pressure is having too much stress. Today, stress is inevitable for many people. While all people have to deal with a lot of stress triggers on a daily basis, there are still many great ways that it can be managed. One of the best ways to manage stress today is through a full exercise regime. When you are looking to exercise, mixing in some weight training and cardio exercise will help to release endorphins into your brain and also take your mind off of life’s concerns.

Types of Exercise to Consider

Overall, it is clear that exercising on a regular basis will help anyone to lower their blood pressure. However, those that are new to exercise may be confused as to what they should focus on. For those people, finding a way to get in aerobic workouts on a daily basis is very important. Ideally, you should find at least 30 minutes per day to get in a brisk walk or run. However, there are bound to be days where this is not possible. In these situations, making sure you get up and walk around as much as possible or stand instead of sitting when you can is a great way to remain active.

Keep it Frequent

Another tip to follow when you are looking to exercise is to make sure that you exercise frequently and never go too long between workout sessions. While 150 minutes of exercise is the recommendation for the week, it is also recommended to spread these exercise sessions out over a longer period of time. Ideally, you should workout at least 4-5 times per week without ever taking more than a one day break.

Don’t resist weight resistance

If you enjoy lifting weights, weight resistance training is also a great way that you can reduce your blood pressure. Since weight training poses physical challenges and gets the heart rate up, it can have many additional cardio health benefits. If you would like to mix in weight training, it is recommended that you ease into it. Ideally, you should spend some time with a personal trainer to make sure that you know how to use certain weight lifting machines. This will help to prevent injury or over-working your muscles.

Overall, the recommendation by most physicians is simply to stay active. In many cases this will mean making sure that you are not too sedentary and that you are finding ways to stay active.

Austin Winder is a Public Relations Specialist and contributing author for high intensity training gurus in the US, Orangetheory Fitness.