I know it's been a while since I posted but I have been rather busy. I was just wondering if any of you have high blood pressure and work out. I recently was at the doctors and they were concerned about my BP, I can't remember what it was, and that sort of startled me. I am only 20 years old and have a high BP. I am a big guy at 6'0 and 330lbs but I have always been active. My body fat percentage by way of calipers was tested to 25.4%. One thing that worries me is that when I do squats even well under my 1 rep max I get light headed. One time I almost passed out with 300lbs on the bar and my max was at 450lbs at the time. I have since stopped doing squats since then because I now work out alone. Anyone else had a similar problem? I guess I should add that squats is the only exercise I get light headed doing. I can do bench, leg press, dead lifts, good mournings etc without getting light headed.
I have borderline Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
The American Heart Association defines high blood pressure as anything above 140/90
However an ideal Blood Pressure would be 120/80
Currently I'm at 140/70 (So I guess according to the AHA I'm not hypertensive)
When you get lightheaded you're probably suffering from cerebral edema or Intra Cranial Pressure (excess fluid in the cranium) which can be brought on by strenuous activity in persons with Hypertension.
Have you discussed this with your Doctor?
I'd really like to know what your blood pressure is too.
Some people normally run a little higher or lower.
If you do have Hypertension though you'll want to avoid excess Sodium and Glucose because they have a water retaining effect in your body (More water in the body= more overall fluid including blood). I'm sure your doctor has already went over all of this with you.
Perhaps you could look into being prescribed a Beta Blocker, Calcium Channel Blocker or something else similar to control Hypertension so you can resume normal workouts.
Well I know hypertension runs in my family I think my mom's dad and my dad's parents had it. Both my parents have it as well. I just took my bp here at home with one of those home electronic ones and it was 128/78
That's not high at all. But with the home electronic versions they say to take it at least twice on each arm and then calculate the average because they can tend to be off sometimes.
Hypertension is familial so it does run in families. It runs in my family too. The real bummer about Blood Pressure medication is a real nasty side effect "impotence."
I have it and have been treated for it for about 5 years. Must have happened after getting married.... [img]tongue.gif[/img] I never had any problems attributed to it while lifting.
Do yourself a favor, the next time you go to the doctor, take your BP machine from home. Most doctors will verify\calibrate it to make sure it is accurate.
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Also make sure you're using the right size cuff. Those of us with larger arms need them. It can affect your reading. I have high blood pressure and I'm 31. I've been taking bp meds for little over a year now. Seems to have helped.
But check out that cuff size. They were getting much higher readings when they used the standard size.
Good call, Gymrat. I go an ego boost this morning when I went to the doctor for the regular BP and cholesterol check. The nurse said, 'Oh, we're going to need the large cuff for you'. No wonder the BP was elevated.....
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Those that can't do teach. Those that can't teach consult. Deserve aka Gabe
'8 replies before the gutter! Good job Clubhouse!!!!!' Ninjabookey
Rest and relaxation can be a powerful “nothing” to propel us to greater achievements. Mahler
Stop listening to your wiener. He may want to go for a swim, but you haven't checked if the waters are shark infested yet. Ninjabookey
Somebody move this over to the General Health forum... we need the traffic!
I was on BP meds for 11 years but haven't needed them since 2002 thanks to weight loss and exercise, although I don't know it was truly necessary to be on them the whole time. Doctors are not inclined to take you off the drugs once labelled hypertensive... how would you know if your BP was down due to the meds or just down on its own at that point?
128/78 is NOT high so don't start freakin over it just yet and don't go looking for medication solutions until you truly need them. Part of the reason I got put on the meds is that I have the old "white coat syndrom" where mine goes up just being in the office! Are you breathing properly when you're squattin? I'm not a doctor (and don't play one on TV!) but, if I were you, I'd focus on the weight first and keep your exercise regular and balanced with weight training and "cardio." I was amazed to see the connection between extra lbs and jacked up readings.
I would NOT go looking for a blood pressure med just to get through workouts. That's like throwing a nuke to kill an ant.
zlightning, I'm not sure I'd peg hypertension as the cause of your lightheadedness during squats. Breath holding or deliberate Valsalva maneuvers would be my first suspicions. Hydration would come up second, but much lower on my list since this happens only during squats, you mentioned. Hypertension would be way down on my list again (even if you were diagnosed with hypertension) because again, the light-headedness only occurs with squatting, and not with other lifts of similar relative load/effort.
First off, I wasn't recommending blood pressure medicine JUST to get through a workout, that's ridiculous. I recommend BP medicine IF someone has hypertension, and that if they were on it, they might be able to RESUME workouts. I guess I wasn't being clear there.
Secondly hypertension CAN cause lightheadedness (or this can be due to Orthostatic Hypertension ) from increases in fluid shifts during strenuous exercises like squats.
I doubt dehydration is causing your lightheadedness (you'd have to be dehydrated to the point where it's effected your electrolyte levels) because lightheadedness is one of the first signs of excess fluid in the head, which you WOULDN'T have if you were dehydrated unless you had an elecrolyte imbalance or some other underlying vascular problem which affected blood flow.
I am a nurse bryanc, I wouldn't be giving him bogus information.
Sorry Anubis, I don't understand the nature/mechanism of these fluid shifts you're talking about during strenuous exercises like squats.
And despite a diagnosis of hypertension, it is still possible to be fluid underfilled and thus experience hypovolemic related light-headedness--which is the direction I was taking with the dehydration angle, not from an 'excess fluid' standpoint. The degree of underfill required to produce light-headedness during exercise is not really that much. You definitely do not need to have electrolyte problems to experience it. Light headedness is a pretty non-specific symptom to begin with. I wouldn't go so far as to say it suggests either etiology, even if hypertension is present.
Originally posted by Anubis: First off, I wasn't recommending blood pressure medicine JUST to get through a workout, that's ridiculous.
I don't know if your comment was directed at anyone in particular but, for the record, my comments were only intended to say that I'm opposed to people looking for drug-bases solutions as a first alternative. I can't speak for bryan but that was the way that I interpreted his message, too... basically, there's nothing in the info provided to warrant BP meds. I didn't interpret your comments as a recommendation to take the meds either.
I respect folks like you and bryan (and russ) for your knowledge and willingness to work in the medical field and I'm really glad there are people like you who want to do that kind of work but I, personally, want to be as far away from Dr.'s and hosipitals as I can be... until I REALLY need them!!! That's just based on my past experience and my own innate cynicism. That was the basis for my comments.
Zlightning, when you almost pass out do you see little white spots flying around? Their appearance usually signifies a drastic increase in bp from my experience. About the only time THat has happened to me was during a 150% 1rm bench press [img]smile.gif[/img] (using only the top 1/2 rom). I did it just for gags, no real reason. Anyhow, I'd suggest you start (if not already doing so) performing 1-1.5h long moderate intensity cardio sessions about 3 times a week if bp is really a concern. Hypertension runs in my family, but since I got into cycling I have lowered my systolic bp from the 140s to ~103 with a resting heart rate in the 30s (50s when I lay off cycling for a few months)
Originally posted by swiperfox: since I got into cycling I have lowered my systolic bp from the 140s to ~103 with a resting heart rate in the 30s (50s when I lay off cycling for a few months)
Sorry I don't know if I understood you correctly but are you saying your resting heartrate is in the 30s??? That's actually not good and is considered to be Bradycardia. Also 120/80 is an optimal blood pressure. 103 seems a bit low as well.
I thought the reading 120/80 was only a statistical average not an ideal. there were other factors to consider. besides don't weightlifters have on average, a higher resting systol?
Originally posted by TY_Webb: I thought the reading 120/80 was only a statistical average not an ideal. there were other factors to consider. besides don't weightlifters have on average, a higher resting systol?
Ty,
No it is not a statistical average, it is the ideal pressure recommended by all health professionals. Like I said above, the American Heart Association determines high blood pressure to be above 140/90, so there is a window.
Hypertension or Hypotension (low blood pressure) can also be determined by what is deviating from your norm. A person can have a low blood pressure of 110/60 (usually women) but if this is what they've consistently ran at, then it is not considered to be low. If you normally run higher than 140/90 than it is still considered to be 'high' because the blood vessels don't work well under that amount of pressure which is exerted against their walls. This can predispose you to a whole bunch of nasty conditions like stroke, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure etc..
I've never heard anything about weight lifters having a higher resting systolic number before so I can't say whether or not that is true. I do know that while you're working out you do experience a spike in your blood pressure, but this is to be expected as your heart rate increases and you're muscles are demanding a greater increase in blood/oxygen to the working muscles which would increase the pressure.
actually I don't buy that. I think it is what the average person's is. that is not necessarily ideal. maybe bryanc can chime in, he apparantly is in the medical field.
i'm pretty sure weightllifters have higher stroke volume which might increase bp, but hell i'm speculating.
Well, you don't have to 'buy it' TY. I'm also in the medical field and all throughout school and our medical experience in the clinical settings it's what's been crammed into our brains.
If you don't want to take my word for it, why not click on the link that I provided.. it seems sort of naive for you to just dismiss me without any evidence of your own speculations.
i'm of the belief that blood pressure can influence lightheadedness during lower body resistance training. In addition, lower body strength exercise seem to result in a higher systolic blood pressures and a lower diastolic blood pressures. This is related to the larger mass of the leg muscles. Larger muscles require more blood for energy production, resulting in an increased systolic pressure. But larger muscles also have more reserve capillaries, resulting in a decreased diastolic pressure.
just my .02 cents
also just because you are in the medical field doesn't get you respect. it has to be earned.
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VonHayes- What's this got to do with respect? If Ty doesn't want to 'buy' anything I say without sound reason then I'm just left confused. He wants bryanc's opinion because bryanc is in the medical field. So if that is important to him I thought I'd let him know that I too am in the medical field. I'm only trying to provide information here. Not gain someone's respect who doesn't want to pay attention to facts.
I'll try doing squats the next time I goto the gym. I can't remember if I saw any spots when I felt like I was gonna pass out. I'm going to start off really light though cause it's been about a year since I have done them.
FAIR= 130-39/85-89 (which the American Heart Assoc. determines anything above this as being high blood pressure)
BAD= 140+/90+
So as I was saying, anything above 140/90 is considered hypertension. This is a standard, not an average, which is what the physician, me and the chart above has informed you.
Well I performed a 3 sets of squats today and no problems with being light headed. Now I'm not sure what was going on but whatever it was has seemed to have stopped. I also can't believe how much weaker my legs are in this exercise then they used to be. I thought doing leg presses would help keep most of my strength but they failed to do that.
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