Myth Buster: Does resistance training cause high blood pressure?
No!
In fact strength training has been proven to help lower blood pressure.
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that your heart uses to pump blood around your body.
Systolic pressure (the first number) – is the pressure on your artery walls when your heart pushes blood out
Diastolic pressure (the second number) – is the pressure on your artery walls when your heart rests between beats
Your heart becomes stronger when you exercise frequently. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort and as a result, less pressure is placed on your arteries which in turn lowers blood pressure.
Blood pressure increases slightly during both aerobic and strength training; however, this returns to normal shortly after finishing.
It takes between 1 – 3 months of regular exercise to have an impact on your blood pressure and the benefits will only last as long as you keep it up.