Since getting an Apple Watch in early May, and discovering that I'm as susceptible to psychologically manipulative gamification as most people are, I've been doing a 30 minute walk in the morning to close my exercise ring for the day.
I have high blood pressure and take pills for it. I measure my blood pressure at least twice a day (just before taking pills in the morning and evening), and occasionally at other times.
My blood pressure has definitely lowered a noticeable amount. That doesn't prove anything, but it correlates well and I made no other changes anywhere near that time that would be expected to affect blood pressure.
One question I have concerns distribution. Does it matter if 30 minutes of daily walking is done as one 30 minute walk, or split into separate morning and evening 15 minute walks, or maybe even 10 minute morning, mid-day, and evening walks?
I needed this info because I was worried about exercising. I have anxiety-like physiological issues, tachycardia, high blood pressure and exercise intolerance without clear causes. I was even admitted to Stanford's cardiac unit for a week, leaving without a clear identified cause after a battery of tests including a 12 lead ECG, stress echo and catheterization. I suspect pulmonary hypertension as I was never ever able to run a mile continuously to save my life at any age without being out of breath, and I have an undiagnosed CTD like Marfan but not (span > 1.0 and many other indicators). Been on propranolol er 160 mg for about a year and 10 mg/dose CBD isolate tincture for about 8 months.
I think this is the first place I've seen recently that says steady-state cardio is better than HIIT for anything. It does seem odd that they study they cite compared equal times for steady-state vs HIIT; I thought one of the main benefits was with HIIT you can see benefits with less time.
So to summarize... basically any exercise will help blood pressure. Benefits observed as low as 15 minutes of low intensity cardio, although it does look like higher intensity is preferred for strength training.
I have high blood pressure and take pills for it. I measure my blood pressure at least twice a day (just before taking pills in the morning and evening), and occasionally at other times.
My blood pressure has definitely lowered a noticeable amount. That doesn't prove anything, but it correlates well and I made no other changes anywhere near that time that would be expected to affect blood pressure.
One question I have concerns distribution. Does it matter if 30 minutes of daily walking is done as one 30 minute walk, or split into separate morning and evening 15 minute walks, or maybe even 10 minute morning, mid-day, and evening walks?