July Blood Pressure Results: Plateau?

The intention for July was to add two days of additional workouts, bringing our weekly total to five days a week.

We added this on top of the January  goal to practice yoga three times per week, the February goal to eliminate added sugar from our diet, the March goal to meditate three times per week, the April goal to drink tea three times per week and the May goal to eat salmon once per week. (We rested in June, under strict orders from the universe.)

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous aerobic activity, or a combination of both, preferably spread throughout the week.

What We Did

We skipped those last two workouts because I started my period and I like to take it easy on my first few days. Also, the pump on our neighborhood pool broke, so our swimming workouts had to cease in Week 4.

We swam a lot in the first three weeks because my ankle is still healing from a sprain. The pool felt like the best and safest way for me to get a full body workout. On the yoga days, I typically watched YouTube videos dedicated to workouts with a sprained ankle. I was pleasantly surprised at how many were options were available for that.

So if you’re operating with a sprained ankle, or another injury, remember there are gentler options for you. You don’t have to quit just because you can’t run a 5k. Do some gentle yoga or some laps in the pool. I promise you that you will FEEL your muscles working. Even if it’s not the ones you are used to.

Results

Adding additional workout days didn’t help my blood pressure results much. 

My average blood pressure for July was 134/88 with a resting heart rate of 70. That’s nearly identical to the rates I saw last month, except for the resting heart rate, which came down by 4 beats per minute (bpm).

Honestly, I think my recent lack of declining numbers are a result of anxiety. Because three of us are vaccinated, we are venturing out into the world again. And I am having some trouble with that emotionally. Partially because my baby (who is 11) is not yet vaccinated and partially because I’m just used to hunkering down in my little hole. 

If you’re experiencing post-pandemic anxiety, check out this article on coping mechanisms from Health.com. And remember that anxiety is normal. You are allowed to have your feelings. Don’t pile on stress by telling yourself what you’re feeling is wrong (or pay attention to others who feel the need to chime in on that.) Forgive yourself. Breathe. And move on.

When discussing these results with my chiropractor, he suggested I might be at a plateau. Training plateaus are common in any body shaping goal, whether it be body building or weight loss, and so it make sense that the shaping of my blood pressure could plateau as well.

I’m also feeling a bit of burnout. Meditation is awesome. But taking a break in the middle of the workday to breathe and NOT think, when I have a million things to do is not always feasible. Or enjoyable. Once I’m on the sofa, with my headphones in, working through a meditation, I do enjoy it. But forcing myself to get there is another thing entirely.

That’s why we’re here at all, isn’t it? We know what we should be doing. We know what is good for us. But making those good things a habit requires a bit of effort. And sometimes that effort is hard to give.

Or perhaps my results are just because I’m doing more things. I’m busier. Meeting with friends, eating on patios. I even went to an outdoor concert and a play. Busier lives mean less time to focus on these health habits. And maybe my results reflect that.

My Systolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries during the contraction of your heart muscle) inched down by 1 millimetre of mercury (mm Hg) during the month of July, but is down a whopping 20 mm Hg since December 2020.

My Diastolic pressure (the amount of pressure in the arteries when the heart rests between beats) stayed the same in July, but is down by 17 mm Hg since the start of the experiment. 

My heart rate (the number of times the heart beats per minute while at rest) came down by 4 beats per minute (bpm) in July, making up for the increase I saw in June and leaving today’s results 9 bpm under the December 2020 average. 

While I haven’t met any new goals, I am still in Stage 1 Hypertension, according to the American Heart Association recommendations. When I started this experiment, I was in Stage 2. My goal is to get to Normal by the end of the year.

So for August, I’m hoping I can refocus, pull in the anxiety, take time to meditate and concentrate on my health goals, and keep my blood pressure results headed downward.