Posted on February 03, 2016 by Jenny Cromack

Last weekend my Auntie rang me about advice on how to reduce her blood pressure she is 60 but walks (and I mean ‘up hill and down dales’) for 2 hours a day and longer on a weekend, she also doesn’t consume caffeine or unhealthy foods. So I got reading and came across this article that I wanted to share with you from the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that looked at Acute and Chronic Effects of Resistance Exercise on Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Elderly Women.

The research showed that resistance training can help decrease high blood pressure to a greater degree than most blood pressure lowering medicines.

The women used in the study were Brazilian and were put on a 4 month training programme and by the end of the study the women saw a reduction in their systolic blood pressure by an average of 14.3mmHg and their diastolic by an average of 3.6mmHg.

Systolic Pressure – This is the pressure recorded when the heart and blood vessels are contracting to pump blood away from the heart and around the body.

Diastolic Pressure – This is the pressure recorded when the heart and blood vessels are relaxed, allowing the heart and blood vessels to refill ready for the next contraction.

Reducing of your systolic reading by as little as 5mmHg may decrease the rick of coronary heart disease by 9% and and reduce mortality from all causes by 7% making the outcome highly relevant for healthy and wellbeing.

The women followed the following protocol

Month 1

Lifting light weights for high reps and with short reps of 30 seconds between sets.

Month 2

Increased weights to 60% of one rep max

Month 3

80% of one rep max for 8 reps per set with 90 sec rest.
The training programme applies overload to the muscles and cardiovascular systems to elicit the beneficial changes to the blood pressure. Training like this will not only have reduced their blood pressure but improved their strength and body composition!

Although this study is on elderly women the training effects on the blood pressure would work on all ages and gender.

If you would like any more advice or help on reducing your blood pressure then get in touch with one of the motive8 north trainers.

Reference – Mota, M., et al. Acute and Chronic Effects of Resistive Exercises on Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Elderley Women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2013