Feeling Good With High Blood Pressure

"Pare, you're so thin!" I greeted my friend this afternoon. What happened?

Turns out my friend started exercising this year -- 20 minutes on the treadmill on weekdays, 45 on weekends. Every. Single. Day.

Why the sudden need to be athletic? He was surprised to find out that his blood pressure was 160 over something.

I got scared when I found out that even though he had such high blood pressure, he didn't feel that anything was wrong with him. He actually felt good (except for a stuffy nose, but that was it).

So how'd he bring it down to a respectable 120/80? Nope, not medication. Just exercise (lots of walking) and a sensible diet.

Which reminds me of those P.E. classes about maintaining 60% to 80% of your Maximum Heart Rate for about 30 minutes. Remember that thing about 220 minus your age?

Anyway, there's another Max HR formula that deals with your age and 5% of your body weight in pounds. It's called The Best Fit Formula for computing your maximum heart rate.

Okay. Enough typing in front of the computer. It's time to walk around more. See ya!

(Oh, please see your doctor before embarking on any exercise program. I'm not a doctor.)

Related Link: Books on Heart Rate Monitoring (Sally Edwards)
[ First posted on 10/24/2002 by Manuel Viloria ]