High blood pressure is one of the leading factors that may lead to a future stroke. Your blood pressure will improve as you start walking. You will see a rise in your blood pressure after any exercise but as soon as you are physically able, start walking after a stroke. Studies show that regular exercise is important to reduce the risk of a stroke.
Walking isn’t Cool. Isn’t it Better to Run?
I can give you all kinds of information on the internet why walking is better than running but can we just stop and think about this for ourselves for a moment. Running may be fine for young people but those of us who are here reading this post are probably not young. No young person I know worries about having a stroke.
We’re talking about walking versus running for middle age to elderly folks.
What are the benefits of running:
- Improves your health
- Helps with weight loss
- Relieves stress
- Prevents disease
- Boosts confidence
- Improves your mood
What are the negative effects of running:
- Will limit the amount of muscle you can add
- More likely to cause aches in your joints
- There are studies that show potential heart issues after running a lot over many years
- Injuries from hazards and from not stretching enough
What are the benefits of walking:
- Improves your health
- Helps with weight loss
- Relieves stress
- Prevents disease
- Boosts confidence
- Improves your mood
- Strengthen your bones
What are the negative effects of walking:
- Low intensity will equal limited results
- Greater time will be required to burn calories
- Injuries from hazards (but not as likely as from running)
Well, those are all things that came from searching the internet but now let’s look at life experiences.
- My joints start hurting when I run more than five miles
- I have met several runners with knee problems or knee replacements from all of their years of running
- Running does get your heart working harder, which is good
- Walking is better to be done with a friend or friends (socializing is good)
- It’s easier to enjoy nature, the sights, sounds and smells when you walk
Don’t get me wrong. I do like to include some running when I go on a walk but the older I get the less I care about huffing and puffing and the more I like to enjoy a long walk with a friend or just by myself. It’s nicer when taking you best friend (a dog) on a walk. You will improve your health and get in shape when walking. Realize that it will take longer or you may have to spend more time walking to get the results you would have gotten on a shorter run.
How Will Walking Reduce My Blood Pressure?
Some of the following information comes from WebMD.
A Korean study showed that walking 40 minutes a day lowered blood pressure in people with hypertension. The study included 23 men with hypertension. Blood pressure dropped 5 points after a 40-minute walk and 3 points after a 10 minutes walk.
One of the findings that came out of this study was that you can do all of your exercise at one time or you can split it up into smaller time frames and you will still achieve similar results. The time duration is similar to the CDC’s recommendation of 30 minutes per day.
The important things is to get started and make it a regular part of your day.
Is it a Good Idea to Start Walking Soon After a Stroke?
Yes.
I want to add here that this is a stroke victim’s opinion and not a health professional’s opinion. This is based on personal experience and research.
Exercise will help you reduce excess weight, lower high blood pressure, reduce high cholesterol and improve your mood. The first three items are known to affect your stroke risks. Dr. Argye Beth Hillis, MD. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has this to say about exercising right after a stroke:
How interesting is that. Exercising before and after a stroke can lessen the severity of a stroke and improve your recovery? Wow! Is that a wake up call to all of us or what?
Let’s Get Moving
It doesn’t take much time or research to see how important exercise is for stroke victims. Since most stroke victims or people with a high risk of a stroke are elderly, the question comes back to what kind of exercises are the best.
From what I have observed, walking, swimming and light strength training is common among the elderly I see who do workout. Plus, it is obvious that these are the same people who will have greater joint problems and coordination issues.
So, chose a few low-impact activities and start moving. You won’t regret it later.