Exercising for Busy Professionals like Ourselves

This article is medically reviewed by Dr Valery Feigin | Professor of Neurology & Epidemiology and Director of NISAN (National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences), Auckland University of Technology.

Contemplating whether to do a workout especially after a long, tired day of work must have crossed your mind before. As busy professionals, finding this time gap to squeeze in a short exercise session or procrastinating exercise endlessly is a challenge we must all overcome.

Why Exercise in the First Place?

If you are looking for a way to control your blood pressure while leading a sedentary lifestyle, exercise is for you. In fact, exercise is called the natural cure for hypertension for these reasons:

1. Improves our muscle’s ability to absorb oxygen from our bloodstream and reduce the burden on our heart to pump more blood to our muscles
2. Reduces the stress hormones, which is a factor that contributes significantly to higher blood pressure
3. Acts as nature’s beta blockers (hypertension medication) that keep our blood pressure at healthy levels

While fitting physical activity into your lifestyle is better than none, there are specific types that are more effective at managing hypertension.

• Aerobic exercises: These are any activities that increase your heart and breathing rate such as playing recreational sports, climbing stairs, brisk walking, dancing and even gardening. They play a vital role in your heart health.
• Anaerobic exercises: Also known as strength training involving short bursts of physical activities such as weightlifting, sprinting and bodyweight exercises have also been reported to have an immense impact on lowering blood pressure if carried out consistently over a long duration.
• Isometric exercises: Arguably the most effective form of exercise, they are the ones where there is minimal movement of your muscles. Imagine low-intensity activities that engage your muscles while your posture remains static such as bridges, planks and squats.

To make exercise a sustainable habit in the long run, we need to find activities that we enjoy. This could be in the form of taking a stroll in the park with your loved ones or taking a short jog the next time you are buying groceries. The idea is not to treat exercise as a chore but rather to perceive it as an opportunity to maximise your efficiency. Here are some tips to nurture you into this mindset.

• Set S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals for yourself by asking yourself these 5 questions: What specific feat do I want to accomplish? How would you measure your progress? Is this target attainable? Will it be relevant to see an improvement in my daily life? Am I being too ambitious of my goals and capabilities?
• Start small and slowly: When starting a new routine it is always important to train progressively. A safe exercise duration is 10 to 15 minutes per day and you may gradually increase it if you are coping well.
• Mix up your routines: Set out a calendar with the various types of exercises to target different muscle groups and stay motivated.
• Find an exercise partner: It is always more fun to work out with a friend or family member who will push you to complete what you have set out to achieve and attain your fitness goals.

What is Next?

Remember that any amount of exercise is better than none. By setting time aside for exercising despite your busy schedules, you stand to gain from controlled blood pressure, not to mention the feeling of euphoria post workout. But let us not be complacent, to accurately measure our blood pressure, we need to keep ourselves accountable by measuring our blood pressure once in the morning and another time before we sleep. With this, we can stand together to fight against hypertension and other preventable cardiovascular diseases by monitoring your blood pressure with OMRON blood pressure monitors. Check out our range of blood pressure monitors today!