How Blood Pressure is Measured for Fitness
Blood pressure is a measurement of the force with which your blood is pumped through your body. Pumping blood places pressures on the walls of your arteries and the blood vessels that carry blood away from your heart. It is comparable to water flowing through a hose. The more pressure there is, the more likely the hose is to burst. Too low and the hose collapses.
Your exact blood pressure is measured using two factors. The first of these factors is the strength of each heartbeat.
The second is the resistance put up by the ‘tubes’ through which you blood passes, primarily your capillaries and arteries.
It is the arterioles, the tiny blood vessels that feed into the capillary network that regulate blood pressure more than any other part of your body. These arterioles expand and contract in rhythm with the beating of your heart as result of the muscular tissue in their walls. Therefore you could say that measuring blood pressure is in effect checking the strength or weakness of your heart.
Your blood pressure is measured using two different numbers that represent two different blood pressures – the systolic and diastolic pressures.
The first of these, the systolic is a measurement of the highest pressure point, which is, recorded when the heart beats or contracts. The lower figure, the diastolic is a measurement of what is occurring when your heart is at rest, effectively representing the low point of your blood pressure.
As a general rule, it is the diastolic pressure measurement that doctors pay most attention to, because if your diastolic pressure is too high, it suggests that your arteries and capillaries are under too much pressure even when your heart is at rest.
In an average non-stressed adult, normal blood pressure would be in the region of 120/80mmHG.
Usually, the better your physical condition, the lower your diastolic pressure measurement is likely to be, with well conditioned athletes regularly recording a diastolic pressure of between 50 and 60 mmHg.
High blood pressure is a killer and many of us do not know we have e it. Studies show that one third to one half of high blood pressure sufferers are completely unaware of their condition, which is one reason why your doctor always measures your blood pressure during a routine visit. The deadly high pressure can just pop up to ruin your health at any hour or any minute. Staying in shape prevents this from happening.