HOW TO LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY

Part 18: Informal Exercise

If, having got your doctor's approval, you find you can manage to work up to 30 – 60 minutes exercise 5 to 6 times a week that's great. You are giving yourself the best possible chance to reduce your high blood pressure.

But for many of us, fitting that amount of exercise into our lives seems daunting if not impossible – our schedules are already crammed enough with work, families, friends, homes and hobbies (not to mention sleep) already having to be slotted into every precious 24 hours.

And then some of us just don't like the idea of exercise – the very word conjures up pictures of exhaustion, pain and gasping for breath.

But it doesn't have to be like that. You don't need formal exercise to lower your blood pressure, you just need to get your body moving. Think "active" rather than "exhausted".

Look for ways to fit more activity into your life as you go about the course of your day and you'll do much better than completely giving up and certainly better than those who start out on a full exercise program and then throw in the towel after 2 weeks.

You have to keep it going to get that lasting improvement in your hypertension, so you have to do something that you can slot reasonably easily into your life. Try the following tips to fit more activity into your life.

• If taking half an hour to exercise seems impossible, think short bursts of activity – three 10 minute walks will do you as much good.
• Always walk short distances of less than a mile rather than taking the car – often you will get there faster than you can drive and find a parking space.
• Get active about the house. Keep your house and garden in great shape and give your blood pressure a treat too.
• Take up an activity which does not feel like exercise – maybe aerobics does not appeal but how about salsa or ballroom dancing or golf? Get active and make new friends too.
• If you're too busy to exercise, double up. Exercise in front of the TV while you catch up on your favourite show – you can always tape it so you can watch when it's a good time to exercise.
• Use your lunch hour to go out for a walk.
• If you have a sedentary desk job, make sure you get up and move around every half an hour or so.
• Delight your family by being the first to tidy up, clear the dishes etc and don't ask others to fetch things for you. Do it yourself.
• Use the stairs rather than an elevator, escalator or lift.
• Play outside with your kids or grandkids or take them swimming or skating
• Get a pedometer and gradually build up your daily steps to 10,000. It's very motivating to see your average daily step count rise – and you can do well just by becoming more active about the house.
• Dump the remote control and turn over the TV yourself. Better still turn it off and do something active.
• Take lessons in something active you've always been hankering to have a go at

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