A Healthy Heart is Where It All Starts
While our society is obsessed with the weight scale, heart disease remains the number 1 cause of death in our country, even amidst a global pandemic. And its got to the point where so many people find themselves running to the scale every morning to see what that number says. That action of weighing ourselves, and being overly concerned with our weight is likely contributing to a decline in our overall health more than we might realize. Let me explain.
I recently wrote a blog about our relationship with food, and how our mindset is impacted when we chose to label foods “good” or “bad”. There’s somewhat of a correlation to this topic. Think about where our mindset goes every time we step on that scale and see that number. I’d bet not likely to a great place. Everybody has some type of stress to deal with. So when we’ve taken our mindset to a bad place, and we have to deal with stress we’ve put ourselves at extreme disadvantage for properly managing said stressors. In short, we’re so damn worried about our weight, that we’re screwing up our heart health.
Hypertension ( aka high blood pressure) has a well earned nickname, “The Silent Killer”. If your blood pressure isn’t in check, you aren’t healthy, plain and simple. And we can’t just look at a person’s physique and presume they’re blood pressure is ok. Yes, the perceived “fittest looking” person can still have hypertension. So what exactly are we talking about when we hear this term, “blood pressure”.
The pressure of circulating blood against our artery walls as our heart pumps and rests, measured in what’s called millimeters of mercury (mmHg). The top, systolic number represents pressure as the heart pumps blood out to the body. And the bottom, diastolic number is the measure of pressure as the heart is resting, and getting refilled. A healthy blood pressure hovers around 120/80. Measurements of 130-ish over 85-ish are considered pre-hypertension, with 140/90 being full blown hypertension. I check my own blood pressure regularly. It’s good for peace of mind. I also prefer to check any client’s BP before we begin a training program as part of the assessment phase. It’s something that we all should have checked about once a month. There are various devices on the market that we can use to give ourselves a home checkup that are affordable. Of course, by no means am I telling anyone to skip their physician check ups. Still go see your doctor regularly.
Now for the good news! Maintaining a healthy BP is doable with some simple lifestyle modifications. Sure I understand that tobacco use is an addiction that’s tough get rid of. But that won’t stop me from giving cigarette smokers dirty looks while I’m out running (simply put, don’t smoke). Regular exercise is always important from both a physical and mental health standpoint. And that’s why everyday for me starts off with grabbing some iron or my running shoes. It’s just something that puts me in that positive mindset, and makes me feel accomplished (Remember what I was saying about that stupid weight scale earlier in this article?). So absolutely, in addition to exercise start off everyday by doing something that makes you feel good about yourself. Keep that mindset where it needs to be. And the stressors of the world won’t be the factors that they once were. Last but not least, prioritize a GREAT SLEEP regularly. Some might say 6–8 hours per night is ideal. My personal idea of what’s considered a “great sleep” is typically judged by how my bed sheets look in the morning. If they’re all over the place, they pretty much look how I feel(Like crap. I must’ve had a dream about doing karate or something. A non-great sleep just happened). Those mornings I know it’ll take me about 15 minutes to make my bed(these mornings are very rare for me). On the nights where I have a GREAT SLEEP, my bed doesn’t really need to be “made” the next morning. It’s more like sliding bed sheet back into place.
Other factors could be contributors to a lesser degree. Most of us have heard that consuming too much sodium if bad for our blood pressure. I’d never encourage dumping salt into our bodies in excess. But it’s more important to understand the relationship between too much sodium and not enough potassium (And with that in mind, I’ll get back in my lane as a Personal Trainer and let the registered dieticians of the world take over on this part of the topic). Could alcohol in excess be a factor? Sure, as it could negatively impact our sleep patterns if it’s consumed close to bed time. So I won’t encourage alcohol consumption either. But I personally drink beer. And my blood pressure is still great because I address the main contributing factors on a regular basis, great sleep, positive mindset, stress management, and regular exercise.
Back in 2014, at the age of 34, I witnessed a long time co-worker suffer a heart attack and pass away right before my eyes. He was only 57 years of age. That experience indirectly jump started my interest into marathon running and overall health & fitness, into becoming a personal trainer. It made me not only want to take better care of myself, but also give others the information they need to do so. Heart health of one of my favorite health related topics to provide information about. So this Memorial Day weekend lets all remember to prioritize what’s important. The numbers on the Omron paint a much better picture than the numbers on the weight scale.
