Weights and Blood pressure

[Endor]

I'm interested to hear from someone in the know if this statement from an Aussie government health site is true or not?

 

"Some types of exercises, such as lifting heavy weights and body presses, can actually raise your blood pressure. These should be avoided if you have high blood pressure."

 

I don't have high blood pressure so I can ignore this, but I was surprised to read that advice and wondered if there is any truth in it?

[I-Jo]

that's like saying laying out in the sun will burn your skin.

I don't get what's the point of the study. <scratcheshead>

[This is Seth]

That statement is completely accurate. Lifting heavy weights will in fact raise your blood pressure temporarily because of the increasedstress placed on your body. It's why we see squat ffairies, wonderful wonderful squat fairies.

Give this article a gander. I'm a big fan of the mayo clinic's studies.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weightlifting/AN00637

[Endor]

That statement is completely accurate. Lifting heavy weights will in fact raise your blood pressure temporarily because of the increasedstress placed on your body. It's why we see squat ffairies, wonderful wonderful squat fairies.

Give this article a gander. I'm a big fan of the mayo clinic's studies.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weightlifting/AN00637

 

Interesting article, thanks for that, it's cleared up my confusion. I was reading the statement to mean weightlifting could increase your resting BP, which would be bad!

 

This statement clarifies it:

"Regular exercise, including moderate weightlifting, provides many health benefits, including helping to lower blood pressure in the long term."

[Waldo]

Weight lifting over time is also known to raise your pulse pressure (difference between systolic and diastolic).  With a high pulse pressure you can have a systolic into the warning area (>120) and a diastolic that is low (<60); meaning you technically have high blood pressure, but it isn't considered bad high blood pressure and even if it was its untreatable anyway since medication will lower both numbers.  A high pulse pressure is a sign of a strong heart (when young).  If you read about pulse pressure keep in mind that all the bad stuff written about it pertains to old people.  (I've studied up on it quite a bit since I have a fairly high pulse pressure, 130/55 is a totally normal reading for me, and was freaked out about high blood pressure for a bit, here's a study on it related to weight lifters:http://hyper.ahajournals.org/content/33/6/1385.full).

[UberTumbleweed]

Thanks for the info, Waldo!  I've had some pretty scary blood pressure readings in the past.  I'm consistently in the normal range now, but this is good to know.  Lately my systolic has been going up somewhat, while my diastolic remains the same/decreases a bit.  So that's really relevant stuff.