Exercise has proven to be a great stress reliever and blood circulator. Therefore, it isn’t hard to believe that it even benefits blood pressure. Examine the evidence in today’s excerpt.

Flexibility and strengthening exercises such as lifting weights are an important part of an overall fitness plan, but it takes aerobic activity to control high blood pressure. And you don’t need to spend hours in the gym every day to benefit. Simply adding moderate physical activities to your daily routine will help.

Any physical activity that increases your heart and breathing rates is considered aerobic exercise, including:

  • Household chores, such as mowing the lawn, raking leaves or scrubbing the floor
  • Active sports, such as basketball or tennis
  • Climbing stairs
  • Walking
  • Jogging
  • Bicycling
  • Swimming

The American Heart Association recommends you get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or a combination of both each week. Aim for at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity most days of the week. If you can’t set aside that much time at once, remember that shorter bursts of activity count, too. You can break up your workout into three 10-minute sessions of aerobic exercise and get the same benefit as one 30-minute session.

Source: Exercise: “A drug-free approach to lowering high blood pressure.” http://www.mayoclinic.org