OK so I was informed that I have high blood pressure a week ago. This is a condition I am unfamiliar with as its been good in the past & for years I was essentially on the DASH diet. Low fat, sugar & salt with boiled meals.

OK but I am 50 now & 80% of guys over 55 have high blood pressure. But I have trained since I was 16, dont drink or smoke – so whats going on.

I am actually on a clinical trial at present for a triglyceride drug. So there were 3 nights inpatient and I have had so many blood tests you wouldn’t believe it. Over 50 vials taken I am sure plus about 20 urinalysis.

The doctor said I am all good except for the blood pressure – but this is in a hospital like clinic where I was confined. I hate doctors.

So I was kind of caught off guard. I couldn’t argue as this was after over a dozen blood pressure tests it was only normal twice. Hypertension?

Really? screw that. I got home and got my own machine.

This is the exact model

heres another – they are cheap –> GET ONE!!!

OK so I set about monitoring throughout the day – hoping of course that the whole thing was just white coat syndrome.

It was not my first blood pressure reading was 150/100 same as at the clinic.

This was a real bummer. I eat well & train hard – turns out just wrong for blood pressure.

So I used the monitor as a biofeedback machine. Tested all day for 3 days while studying all about hyper tension.

Yesterday I got a big surprise. I decided to try abdominal breathing. Thats because I do it while HRV training.

Well heck it went immediately from 140 something over 100 or so to 103/79 wow thats what I was after. Yes abdominal breathing will immediately give you good blood pressure if you have mild hypertension. Does for me anyway. I can now make my blood pressure normal whenever I want.

I absolutely would not have known this without the machine.

There is a device that measures your respiration called Resperate – there is a cheaper machine in the UK called the Loydds blood pressure trainer.

These are just respiration biofeedback sensors. If you have the heartmath emwave or similar then you dont need these. They may make the training easier but I can control my breath without any gadgets or software. I may at some point get a respiration sensor. They are easy to make too.

Resperate

Heartmath

Next up is Cardio. For years I have done 3-5 heavy weight sessions per week with 15-20 minutes high intensity cardio. I assumed this would take care of my blood pressure. It has not.

You need to do an hour of cardio every day. Kenneth Cooper days 7 days per week & I agree. Whats more there is the timing of the training. If you do it in afternoon or evening it leaves your blood pressure high all the morning & early afternoon.

You want to do an hour of hard cardio every single morning first thing. Unless you are sick – everyday.

The cardio lowers the Blood Pressure for a few hours 4-10. So logically it tapers before that. You can use your blood pressure monitor and figure out if its better to have 3-4 20 minute cardio sessions during the day. Or just a long one first thing. Regardless that first one will reset & lower your blood pressure for the day. Don’t cheat on this. Its an hour per day of hard cardio.

I am doing the same weights as before in the afternoons or evenings.

As for diet I already said. DASH diet is the one. Its specifically for blood pressure. There are too many diets. Low carb, paleo, keto. Frankly I am sick of it all & hate to meal plan or calorie count. Just do DASH & intermittent fasting and you should be fine.

So after 3 months I expect to have much lower blood pressure – and be as fit as hell – I’m already pretty good 😉

PS: Its all about breath control

You can add Oculocardiac Reflex to the methods above

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