Blood pressure and heart rate....?

SilMarillion

Hi there,

Who out there monitors their blood pressure and heart rate on a regular basis? Because my family has a history of high BP, I check mine everyday when I get out, and prior to any workout. Since I've joined MFP, and started exercising on a regular basis, I've dropped out of the "Prehypertension" range into the Desirable range... just... my morning reading is typically around 117/77 .. I am hoping that within the next 3 months, this will get to 90/70....

With a lower blood pressure, and I also hoping to lower my resting heart rate ... its typically in the mid to high 80's .. I wear a strapless HRM and check it throughout the day.

SilMarillion.

michellekicks

I monitor my heart rate... mostly because I do HR training as a runner. I also noticed that I have the freakishly low resting heart rate of an 18 year old male athlete and I'm a 36 year old woman lol... my RHR is about 47. Ten years ago it was down to about 43 from running and kickboxing.

I did have high BP after my 2nd son was born - something hormonal... it is now back to normal. Last reading I got was around the same as yours... I just remember being grateful it was normal. It would be nice if it were lower I suppose... but I'm not sure if super low BP is healthier... is it?

SilMarillion

I monitor my heart rate... mostly because I do HR training as a runner. I also noticed that I have the freakishly low resting heart rate of an 18 year old male athlete and I'm a 36 year old woman lol... my RHR is about 47. Ten years ago it was down to about 43 from running and kickboxing.

I did have high BP after my 2nd son was born - something hormonal... it is now back to normal. Last reading I got was around the same as yours... I just remember being grateful it was normal. It would be nice if it were lower I suppose... but I'm not sure if super low BP is healthier... is it?

low BP is just as bad as high BP ... low blood pressure can cause dizziness and fainting or indicate serious heart condition.. I don't think I'll ever have an issue with low BP ... but I would love to reduce my resting HR.... 88+ just seems to high!

jehembee

Super low BP isn't as great as you might think. My BP is constantly down around 90/65 and I am prone to dizziness and tunnel vision.

kasebrad

Same here! My bp is also very low. I black out almost every time I stand up and I'm dizzy all the time. It's really irritating.

SKHaz1

120/80 is normal blood pressure or anything slightly lower than that. That is what I learned in school. If you ask someone who works with heart related patients (echocardiologists) they say that 120/80 is now considered higher than it should be. I wouldn't worry about lowering your blood pressure too much past this guideline. Like others who have commented low blood pressure isn't necessarily good either. Ask your doctor what your BP should be around.

If you experience dizziness after standing up or sitting down, try sitting up and waiting a minute...then stand up and wait before you start to walk. You have to let your body catch up with the position changes. Look up orthostatic hypotension for more info on this.

As for HR normal resting HR in an adult is about 70 beats per minute. The lower your heart rate the more cardiovascularly fit you are (your heart doesnt have to do as much work to get the job done). Once again, I would shoot for around this number. My resting HR is usually around the 60s just sitting here. If I relax and calm down I can get it to 50. Everyone is different though! Hope this info helped.

Diary_Queen

I don't exactly monitor mine as often as I used to. However, every chance I get that might have a BP an RHR check, I take advantage of it.

When I started working on my health, my RHR was 100-115 and my BP was 150/127. I was on HBP medication before I was 30 years old.

I'm not off all medication. My RHR is 46-52 (rarely higher or lower, but that depends on the stress from my kids!) and my BP at last check was 116/71. My 'bad' cholesterol is now in a normal range, my 'good' cholesterol could use some work, but my dr. said that should improve as I continue to exercise, my cortisol levels are normal, my iron stays at a steady 40 and I'm less likely to catch those little office 'sick bugs' that go around.

SilMarillion

I don't exactly monitor mine as often as I used to. However, every chance I get that might have a BP an RHR check, I take advantage of it.

When I started working on my health, my RHR was 100-115 and my BP was 150/127. I was on HBP medication before I was 30 years old.

I'm not off all medication. My RHR is 46-52 (rarely higher or lower, but that depends on the stress from my kids!) and my BP at last check was 116/71. My 'bad' cholesterol is now in a normal range, my 'good' cholesterol could use some work, but my dr. said that should improve as I continue to exercise, my cortisol levels are normal, my iron stays at a steady 40 and I'm less likely to catch those little office 'sick bugs' that go around.

That is awesome! Good for you... My PCP wanted to put me of meds, but I refused... :-) I've basically given myself 3 months to get my BP under control .. and by watching my sodium and cholesterol intake, I know I can get it there, and not take any meds!

dayone987

Low blood pressure can be a concern if you're dizzy etc. But mine is often 90/50 which is fine for me.

spearfox

I check my blood pressure only once in a great while. When I was fat my blood pressure was borderline. It hasn't taken much to bring mine down. I'm lucky I guess.
My heart rate I monitor most anytime I do cardio.
My resting rate now is 41. Last year when I was fat and not exercising it was upper 50's to low 60's.
When I started running my heart rate could hit 175 to 185. I made sure to keep my workouts dialed back a notch to keep it in the 160's to low 170's.
I did go to my doctor. I was checked with ekg. I didn't show any signs such as shortness of breath, blackouts or pain. She told me to keep exercising but watch for those signs but my ekg showed things were great.
As I have worked out more I have seen my heart rate get slightly better while increasing my effort.
Something else I do is keep an eye on recovery heart rate. My understanding is the quicker your heart rate comes down one minute after an intense cardio session the healthier it is. At last tracking my recovery rate was 30 beats per minute. So I could be exercising at 165, stop and within one minute my heart rate will be about 135.
It makes it a little weird to try and figure out how many calories I burn if I use my heart rate. Using the numbers I have gotten sometimes the calorie burns seem freakishly huge.

That my weird 2 cents. It probably won't apply to most people.

michellekicks

I check my blood pressure only once in a great while. When I was fat my blood pressure was borderline. It hasn't taken much to bring mine down. I'm lucky I guess.
My heart rate I monitor most anytime I do cardio.
My resting rate now is 41. Last year when I was fat and not exercising it was upper 50's to low 60's.
When I started running my heart rate could hit 175 to 185. I made sure to keep my workouts dialed back a notch to keep it in the 160's to low 170's.
I did go to my doctor. I was checked with ekg. I didn't show any signs such as shortness of breath, blackouts or pain. She told me to keep exercising but watch for those signs but my ekg showed things were great.
As I have worked out more I have seen my heart rate get slightly better while increasing my effort.
Something else I do is keep an eye on recovery heart rate. My understanding is the quicker your heart rate comes down one minute after an intense cardio session the healthier it is. At last tracking my recovery rate was 30 beats per minute. So I could be exercising at 165, stop and within one minute my heart rate will be about 135.
It makes it a little weird to try and figure out how many calories I burn if I use my heart rate. Using the numbers I have gotten sometimes the calorie burns seem freakishly huge.

That my weird 2 cents. It probably won't apply to most people.

I use my garmin to track my calories burned during my running. With a RHR of 47 and a max of 193 (highest I've ever seen on my garmin)... I burned as many as 1100 calories running for an hour (10km race, also where I hit my max). My recovery is similar to yours... 30-40 beats down in 1 minute.

canuckgirl0992

Having a blood pressure of 90/70 is WAY too low. 120/80 is the norm and differs from each person based on activity, age, underlying diseases etc. Your BP needs to be at a normal rate otherwise your organs will not be perfused properly and may become hypoxic which leads to necrosis (dead) tissue. If my patient had 90/70 in the hospital I would be extremely concerned and would intervene immediately. Eat a well balanced diet, exercise, and decrease your stress levels... those are the best things for your heart

dayone987

Having a blood pressure of 90/70 is WAY too low. 120/80 is the norm and differs from each person based on activity, age, underlying diseases etc. Your BP needs to be at a normal rate otherwise your organs will not be perfused properly and may become hypoxic which leads to necrosis (dead) tissue. If my patient had 90/70 in the hospital I would be extremely concerned and would intervene immediately. Eat a well balanced diet, exercise, and decrease your stress levels... those are the best things for your heart

My blood pressure is usually in the 90/50 range and my organs are are quite nicely perfused and functioning well. What is important to know is a person's baseline B/P and if they are symptomatic of low B/P

120/80 is now considered borderline hypertension and it is perfectly ok to be lower (as long as no symptoms); that number is the upper limit a person should be.

Edit to add; generally a MAP (mean arterial pressure) of 60 is required to adequately perfuse organs , etc