Exercising with High Blood Pressure: Managing Hypertension for a Healthier Workout

Trained medical doctor and Buteyko breathing instructor Dr. Charles Edward Florendo answers questions about blood pressure in sports and explains how the Oxygen Advantage method can help.

Is increased blood pressure during exercise dangerous?

It depends on the person doing the exercise. During exercise, the heart pumps more blood and the body is subjected to more stress. An increase in blood pressure is therefore physiologic and expected.

If you have hypertension, your high blood pressure is caused by a problem with the heart or with the blood vessels, such as clogged or hardened arteries.

But when blood pressure increases during exercise, it is due to normal physiology. In fact, many athletes develop a condition known as "athletes' heart," in which the heart increases in size to compensate for the body's needs during sport. This is not considered a dangerous condition.

It is important that athletes undergo medical examinations before they participate in sports. This helps ensure they do not have anything wrong with their heart or blood vessels before they start exercising.

Medical examinations are not perfect, however, and we have had cases where even professional athletes suffered from heart problems while playing. Known examples include football players Piermario Morosini and Fabrice Muamba.

Can high blood pressure during exercise lead to something dangerous?

Yes, it can. I know of people who died because an aneurysm in their brain ruptured while they were doing sports activities. One was a 40-year-old man who was simply biking to stay fit.

This is unfortunate. The test to find these aneurysms is not usually done before participation in sports, nor is it a common routine. As mentioned above, heart problems can also occur if an athlete has a predisposing heart condition before participating. These issues can be a particular problem for weekend warriors who lack professional supervision.

Why do some athletes develop hypertension when they retire from sport?

While athletes are regularly exercising, the body's carbon dioxide levels are kept at a healthy level because of that exercise. Without regular exercise, CO2 levels may decrease to an unhealthy level.

Most athletes are also trained to do deep breathing during exercise. Many continue with this deep breathing pattern even after they retire. When athletes stop the activity that kept their CO2 levels healthy — exercise — and continue the deep breathing pattern that reduces CO2, the result is hyperventilation, which contributes significantly to hypertension.

This is directly related to breathing pattern disorder. Retraining the breath after a sporting career is often as important as the training itself.

Can Oxygen Advantage Breathe Light exercises help bring down blood pressure related to sport?

Definitely. The benefits of Breathe Light are threefold.

First, it helps train the body to tolerate higher levels of carbon dioxide. Higher CO2 opens the blood vessels and brings down blood pressure, even during aerobic exercises. This tolerance to higher CO2 can significantly reduce deep breathing and, in turn, reduce fatigue.

Second, the Breathe Light exercise improves blood flow to vital organs. This blood flow can be cut off during deep breathing.

Third, Breathe Light helps keep CO2 levels at healthy levels even when the athlete is no longer exercising. This ensures better rest, less cramp, and lower blood pressure during rest or even after retirement.

You can track your CO2 tolerance and breathing efficiency using the BOLT score. A score below 25 seconds typically indicates that breathing is dysfunctional and that CO2 sensitivity is high — which directly correlates with higher resting blood pressure and greater breathlessness during exercise.

Can we convert anaerobic exercise to aerobic exercise with the Breathe Light exercise?

In theory, yes. The mechanism of the Breathe Light exercise increases carbon dioxide in the blood to healthy levels, so that the blood can transport oxygen more efficiently. This in turn makes the body work in a more aerobic environment.

One look at the physiology of the Breathe Light exercise shows that most of the benefits of aerobic exercise can be achieved by practising it. By combining the Breathe Light exercise with non-aerobic exercises, we may be able to get the benefits of aerobic exercise even from a non-aerobic workout. Learn more about the relationship between anaerobic capacity and breath training.

A note on weightlifting

Weightlifting is regarded as an anaerobic exercise. Many athletes in weightlifting believe that the deep breathing they do during training contributes to muscle development. I am not certain about the physiology of this belief and am unable to confirm or debunk it.

I have, however, encountered weightlifters who suffered from hyperventilation when they were not in the gym. I believe this is because they bring their deep breathing patterns out of the gym with them — a classic example of dysfunctional breathing developing from habitual over-breathing.

About Dr. Charles Edward Florendo, MD

Dr. Charles Edward Florendo received his Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Technology from the University of Santo Tomas in 2000, followed by his Doctorate in Medicine, also from the University of Santo Tomas, in 2005.

Shortly after graduating he became a missionary physician, serving as head of the Outpatient Department at the Mary Health of Africa Hospital, a primary AIDS referral centre in Cameroon, Africa. He was originally trained in the Buteyko Method by senior Buteyko practitioner Jac Vidgen, then received additional training and certification from the Asthmahilfe Foundation in Austria, the Buteyko Breathing Association in England, and Buteyko Clinic International.

While in Africa, Dr Florendo organised the training of African health workers in the use of the Buteyko Method and co-founded the Controlled Breathing Association, which oversees and promotes the use of the method in Cameroon. He has since taught the Buteyko Method to patients and health workers in Africa, the United States and the Philippines.

Contact Dr. Florendo at: DrFlorendo@gmail.com

Improve Your Breathing and Blood Pressure with Oxygen Advantage

The Oxygen Advantage method addresses the root cause of exercise-related blood pressure problems: dysfunctional breathing patterns and low CO2 tolerance. By retraining breathing through paced breathing, nasal breathing and Breathe Light exercises, CO2 tolerance improves, blood vessels dilate, and blood pressure normalises — at rest and during exercise.

If you are interested in trying the OA method for yourself, why not try our online breathing course, become a certified breathwork instructor, or find an Oxygen Advantage instructor near you.