Exercise To Lower Blood Pressure: News

April 12, 2012: Tai Chi Helps Seniors Lower Blood Pressure

When speaking about exercise to lower blood pressure, most people think of jogging or resistance training. Tai chi, an ancient Chinese exercise that can be described as the art of healing movement, is a gentle way to fend off development of cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure.

This is especially important for the elderly as they usually have issues with the joints and back, and in many cases osteoporosis, which may prevent them from reaping the full benefits of resistance training.

Even more importantly, in elderly people, vigorous exercise such as strength training may lead to a “decline in arterial compliance”. This means  that the walls of  their blood vessels don’t readily expand and contract as their heart needs them to. This can cause an increase in blood pressure, which, in turn, is associated with higher risk of stroke and heart attack.

Tai Chi could be a suitable exercise for older people to avoid this problem, according to the findings published online in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Read more about the research here: Elderly Tai Chi Adopters Lower Blood Pressure