Although it’s true that blood pressure increases “during” Resistance training, it' noteworthy that blood pressure tends to decrease at rest in the long-term with an appropriate resistance training program.
This long-term adaptation occurs due to a reduction of chronically elevated plasma catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine), causing a reduced basal tone of the sympathetic nervous system. This leads to reduced arteriolar tone and decreased total peripheral resistance by a resetting of the peripheral baroreceptors threshold.
If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, you should observe the following safety precautions:
- Use endurance training, such as walking, jogging, etc. as your primary exercise mode
- Use resistance training as a supplement to endurance training, not as the primary exercise
- Keep the resistance low and the repetitions high
- Avoid exercises with an isometric component
- Avoid holding your breath and straining during exercise (Valsalva maneuver)
- Report any changes in medications and/or any abnormal signs or symptoms before, during, or immediately following exercise
- Move slowly when transitioning from the floor to standing, since you may be more susceptible to a sudden drop in blood pressure (orthostatic hypotension) if taking antihypertensive medication
- If you have severe hypertension you need to be carefully monitored during exercise initially, and possibly long-term
The overall exercise training recommendations for mild to moderately hypertensive individuals are basically the same as for apparently healthy individuals.
Frequency: Exercise at least four times per week. Daily exercise may be more appropriate for you if your functional capacity is low.
Duration: A longer and more gradual warm-up and cool-down period (>5 min) is recommended. Total exercise duration should be gradually increased, possibly to as high as 30 to 60 min per session, depending on your medical history.
Intensity: Low-intensity dynamic exercise vs. high-intensity, high-impact exercise is recommended. The exercise intensity level should be near the lower end of the heart rate range (40 to 65%).
While it is true that people with "uncontrolled" hypertension should not perform resistance training exercise, and that certain resistance training actions can elevate blood pressure beyond recommended levels (e.g., breath holding, isometric holding, maximum weightload), it's also clear that sensible resistance training has never been shown to adversely affect resting or exercise blood pressure. In fact, there is plenty of evidence and research in this area over the past 20 years that properly performed resistance training is both safe during exercise execution and beneficial for resting blood pressure.
