High blood pressure thread

[MPat]

Sorry if this has been hashed out before, when I search it’s just a bunch of stuff from the rip thread downstairs, lol.

Anyway for some time now my blood pressure has been rather high 150/100. I’ve battled with it for a long time and google doesn’t have many “good” answers. I plan in seeing a cardiologist in the coming weeks as I’m interested in fixing this without medication if I can.

I guess I’m looking for some other success stories and what others have done to help. Since this is a weightlifting forum we can assume we are exercising regularly, although I don’t really do cardio. I eat mainly foods I cook from a fairly bland diet. I’m 5’11” and 210Lbs. Don’t smoke and maybe drink a few craft beers every couple weeks. Caffeine intake is probably around 200-350mg day, generally on the lower side. The thing I really suck at is stress management. My life isn’t super stressful I just really care about my work a lot and take a lot of pride in it, I really just need to relaxe more. Not sure if that one thing is pushing my BP up so high, who knows.

Thanks for reading this far and hope to hear some good news and suggestions!

[Hanley]

I guess I’m looking for some other success stories and what others have done to help.

Me not doing regular cardio = 140-150/90
Me doing regular cardio = 110-120/70ish

[MPat]

That’s pretty motivating. What’s regular cardio for you? Honestly I was thinking about getting a treadmill and doing some fasted liss first thing in the morning before breakfast/work. I’ve been lying to myself and telling myself sub 2 minute rest times and density blocks are cardio. My BP tells me maybe not.

[5hout]

-1: See #4.

0: I don't know what I'm talking about.

1: How has your BP been measured? White coat anxiety is real. Being measured incorrectly by pro's is real. Being measured within 30 seconds of standing is real. My wife, a wildly healthier person with legit insane live forever genetics had high BP at the doc's for several years. Long story short, was entirely the product of incorrect measurement and anxiety. If anything her resting BP is slightly low. Obviously n=1 and all that. Measure it, correctly, at home or insist on it being correctly measured at the office.

2: Potassium. Get more of this. Seriously. A bizarre accident of history means you can't get easily get effective potassium pills, but you can buy KCl (No Salt) all over the place. The ratio of your consumed KCl to NaCl is important in determining blood pressure. More potassium is probably a very good thing.

3: I had borderline high (under the latest regs, fine under older regs), sustained KCl intake has more than corrected this (for me), without any other issues. However, this is all in a post-losing-a-shit-ton-of-weight era, so who knows what caused what.

4: For the love of all that is good, follow your doctor's rec's. Even if you end up listening to us and dosing an extra pile of potassium per day and this slowly fixes it, or a little more cardio fixes it, or fixing your white coat anxiety and insisting that they measure it according to the appropriate standards fixes it, follow your doc's advice.

EDIT: In line with Hanley, I (well, pre-kid at least) fence once-ish a week for 2 hours. I go to practice and do not stop fencing or drilling until practice ends. This is my only cardio. I used to do a lot more fencing, I used to have even better BP.

[michael]

The easiest way to lower you blood pressure is to take the medicine.

I think these are the major lifestyle interventions:

1) Lose weight.
2) Less salt, more potassium. I don't think supplemental potassium works though. You need to eat unsalted fruits and vegetables.
3) Exercise

Verify that you don't have sleep apnea.

[MPat]

@5hout

1) I measure at home, it coincides with what the docs get, sometimes docs are a little higher and I do feel anxious.
2) I was thinking about potassium, I can probably add some fruit to my diet.

@michael i did ask for a sleep apnea test and got one a few months back, I was 217 lbs at the time, waking up gasping for air, tired all the time, all that shit, came back negative.... I’ve got down to 210, I don’t gasp for air, and I’m not freaking exhausted all the time, maybe I don’t have it or the symptons anymore. I’m considering dropping down to 200 and seeing what happens

[Hanley]

What’s regular cardio for you?

Nothing crazy. 2-3 25-40 minute LISS-y sessions a week with my heart rate at around 75% max (although whenever I return from a period of sloth...my HR readings are bonkers for the first few weeks).

I’ve been lying to myself

I find cardio vastly, vastly more enjoyable if I do it 1) with my wife, 2) in a class setting, 3) in a very nice facility (I'm over the crossfit in the industrial park bullshit).

ETA:

BP shit has been an issue my whole life. I "failed" my first MEPs physical (military physical) at age 22 because of elevated BP. And - yeah - there was a white coat variable, I'm sure. But if a fucking doctor is sending over 140/80...what's like...life doing? Anyway, in my case at least, BP responds like clock-work to simple exercise.

[5hout]

@5hout

1) I measure at home, it coincides with what the docs get, sometimes docs are a little higher and I do feel anxious.

Ouch, sorry to hear that. I've personally found elemental potassium effective. From the research I've seen the uptake rate is low as all get out tho, so need tons of it (all the time) for it to work. Seriously tho, take meds, lose weight, cardio and (maybe) piles of No Salt. I've also recently reached out to a company looking for coarse ground potassium salt, so it doesn't taste like ass. Hoping to hear back soon.

[MPat]

Thanks for the feedback, feels good to talk about it, I’ve basically been in denial for the last 10 years or so. I’ll start with eliminating the last of the salty snacks I eat, eat some more fruit instead. Make the damn appointment with the cardiologist. And seriously consider dropping down to 200. Oh yeah and the cardio, probably the only thing I’m excited about lol

[BigDave]

Feel the need to temper expectations a bit: at the population level, most lifestyle remedies have very modest effects. For example, the biggest meta analysis on exercise and BP (IIRC) estimates a ~5 mmHg systolic decrease on average with aerobic training, which is good — and maybe you’ll even be on the right end of the distribution and drop 10 — but best not to bank on huge changes. Similarly, reducing salt is unlike to change it more than a few mmHg unless you’re a salt sensitive person (genetic).

Obviously great to do these lifestyle things, but it’s important to know that they are often not enough for people whose BP is fairly high at baseline (particularly 140+). Hanleys aside, I guess.

I do concur with the notes above about being sure you’re measured correctly, eg after sitting for 5 minutes per AHA guidelines, and ambulatory monitoring at home if you really think Dr anxiety is playing into it. But absolutely take this seriously if the number is that high when measured correctly! It sounds like you are by seeking a cardiologist so kudos for that

[Hanley]

Hanleys aside, I guess.

*Gazes across all subjects at population level; gazes locally*

[KyleSchuant]

I've trained a number of guys like you, MPat.

Since this is a weightlifting forum we can assume we are exercising regularly, although I don’t really do cardio. [...] The thing I really suck at is stress management.

You already know two of the things you have to do.

I’m 5’11” and 210Lbs.

BMI = 29.3.

If you were under 180, you would be under BMI 25.0. This would likely drop your blood pressure, too. To be strong it's good to be bigger, but extra tissue carries a metabolic cost, so that being bigger is not ideal for health, in many cases; I would suggest that high blood pressure indicates it's not ideal for your health in your particular case.

Typically a brisk walk for 30-60' each day will challenge the previously untrained (in endurance) person, it will lower stress levels (especially if you have a local park etc) and by burning off some energy make weight loss easier. Of course there are many other things you can do, but that's a start.

EDIT: responded before I saw other responses. This really is a different forum to SS.

[MPat]

So I didn’t know I should be still for 5 minutes. Measured this morning at a more pleasing 135/90, still high and not really where I want it. I also took note that my resting heart rate was really high at 92. This was kind of surprising as even though I don’t “do” cardio I have a physical job where I’m on my feet and moving around, up and down ladders, etc. most of the day.

@KyleSchuant man I hear you, but I started lifting weights to be bigger and stronger, I can shed some weight but 180 might be a far cry. Although maybe 200 won’t look at different as I think it will either

[CtMcBride]

So I didn’t know I should be still for 5 minutes. Measured this morning at a more pleasing 135/90, still high and not really where I want it. I also took note that my resting heart rate was really high at 92. This was kind of surprising as even though I don’t “do” cardio I have a physical job where I’m on my feet and moving around, up and down ladders, etc. most of the day.

@KyleSchuant man I hear you, but I started lifting weights to be bigger and stronger, I can shed some weight but 180 might be a far cry. Although maybe 200 won’t look at different as I think it will either

Dude, what's your waist circumference? You may have more room to lose than you think, without really getting any smaller.

And to add my n=1, I went from ~140/90 at 230+ to ~120/80 at 210. Waist went from 39+ to 35+ while not really losing any size in the arms/chest. Squat did tank, but other lifts stayed the same.

[Wilhelm]

So I didn’t know I should be still for 5 minutes. Measured this morning at a more pleasing 135/90, still high and not really where I want it. I also took note that my resting heart rate was really high at 92. This was kind of surprising as even though I don’t “do” cardio I have a physical job where I’m on my feet and moving around, up and down ladders, etc. most of the day.

@KyleSchuant man I hear you, but I started lifting weights to be bigger and stronger, I can shed some weight but 180 might be a far cry. Although maybe 200 won’t look at different as I think it will either

Dude, what's your waist circumference? You may have more room to lose than you think, without really getting any smaller.

And to add my n=1, I went from ~140/90 at 230+ to ~120/80 at 210. Waist went from 39+ to 35+ while not really losing any size in the arms/chest. Squat did tank, but other lifts stayed the same.

I was thinking of chiming in with weight loss, since that seems to be what did it for me, but i wasn't sure what Mpat's status was in that regard.

[MPat]

My waist measured by fiegenbaum method at 40”, so that’s right about my hip bones I guess close to belly button. If anyone missed it that’s at 210Lbs, 5’11”, 32 yrs.

I could take the hit in the lifts as I don’t compete, just a hobby lifter.

[GlasgowJock]

I'm slowly coming to the same realisations MPat.

I'm a hobbyist lifter in my mid-30s with a BMI exceeding 30 and a 37in waist, underlying issues such as hypertension (identified during my army medical when I was younger, physically fitter and much leaner though put down as 'white coat syndrome') and heck knows what else. Why the feck do I need to remain at ~230lb at the expense of my long term health and maintaining mediocre numbers.

[KyleSchuant]

About the lifting, I get it. My biggest deadlift was done at my highest bodyweight - but I was snoring badly, tired and sore all the time, blood pressure creeping up, and so on. You can't lift anything if you're dead. And it was only 222.5kg anyway.

My waist measured by fiegenbaum method at 40”, so that’s right about my hip bones I guess close to belly button. If anyone missed it that’s at 210Lbs, 5’11”, 32 yrs.

Recently the World Health Organisation moved from recommending measuring BMI as a health screen to waist measurement - for minimum risk of CVD etc they recommend waist be half or under your height. Using that as a guide, you can either drop to a 36" waist or grow to 6'8".

I wouldn't take it too literally, either <36" waist or <180lb. I'd just gradually drop weight by the daily walk and reducing stress and see what happens to blood pressure and the rest. But going for a daily walk and reducing your work stress are good things to do whatever your size.

I could take the hit in the lifts as I don’t compete, just a hobby lifter.

Well that's it, isn't it. Our lifting community talks a lot about the big lifts, and runners are the same with running. And we get things like 55yo triathletes taking anabolic steroids so they can rise from 130th to 112th in the Masters half-Ironman. That's performance. If you're focused on health, then a more even performance works better.

[JohnHelton]

Sometimes I think we should just throw the scale away and only measure waist circumference for health. I got my waist up to 39” during my last bulk. Mistake. I don’t plan to do that again. I want to be as strong as I can be. But I will do that while keeping my waist smaller. CVD runs in the family. Just not worth it.

[Skid]

I'm apparently obese with a BMI of 34, but I think I'm around 20% bf. My blood pressure is 101/65 according to my watch. It raised to 141/80 when I did a 203 kilo squat today where I turned red I the face. I'd hate to have blood pressure that high normally.