Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by menglish6
I was thinking that this higher number might be due to a lowered heart rate? Maybe the initial pump required to push enough blood around at the slightly slower pace creates a slightly higher initial pressure than it would otherwise?

Anyway, I'm curious to hear others opinions on this hypothesis.

(for reference i'm 6'6" 225lb and 25 years old)

One thing to take into consideration is that you can never really believe 100% what those machines tell you. The best way to get a blood pressure reading is to have it done on two separate occasions by a physician or otherwise appropriately trained person at the same time of day and under the same conditions as the first test. It's best done after 10-15 minutes of complete relaxation (just lying down, breathing normally, with no outside stimuli), and actually, you can probably get the best readings just upon waking up in the morning.

You're a pretty big guy from the sounds of it, and if you're a cyclist, then you must have a nice large left ventricle. If this is the case, then the lower HR is pretty common because your heart pumps a lot of blood with each beat, thereby lowering the total number of beats per minute that are required to get the appropriate amount of O2 to your muscles. That would be the stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped per beat), and I'm guessing that if you have a pretty big stroke volume, then the force at which the blood is leaving the heart has a greater resistance to overcome than someone with a lower stroke volume.

Now, with training, you may actually experience an enlargement of some blood vessels, and this will serve to lower the SBP because there's a larger "tube" for the blood to flow through and therefore less resistance.

As for the blood pressure, I can say that from experience, I've seen a lot of higher readings from those machines just because of the time of day it was done and various other factors. Don't worry about the SBP too much...just focus on that low HR. That's a sign of good fitness.

Keep up the good work!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by menglish6
I was thinking that this higher number might be due to a lowered heart rate? Maybe the initial pump required to push enough blood around at the slightly slower pace creates a slightly higher initial pressure than it would otherwise?

Anyway, I'm curious to hear others opinions on this hypothesis.

(for reference i'm 6'6" 225lb and 25 years old)

One thing to take into consideration is that you can never really believe 100% what those machines tell you. The best way to get a blood pressure reading is to have it done on two separate occasions by a physician or otherwise appropriately trained person at the same time of day and under the same conditions as the first test. It's best done after 10-15 minutes of complete relaxation (just lying down, breathing normally, with no outside stimuli), and actually, you can probably get the best readings just upon waking up in the morning.

You're a pretty big guy from the sounds of it, and if you're a cyclist, then you must have a nice large left ventricle. If this is the case, then the lower HR is pretty common because your heart pumps a lot of blood with each beat, thereby lowering the total number of beats per minute that are required to get the appropriate amount of O2 to your muscles. That would be the stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped per beat), and I'm guessing that if you have a pretty big stroke volume, then the force at which the blood is leaving the heart has a greater resistance to overcome than someone with a lower stroke volume.

Now, with training, you may actually experience an enlargement of some blood vessels, and this will serve to lower the SBP because there's a larger "tube" for the blood to flow through and therefore less resistance.

As for the blood pressure, I can say that from experience, I've seen a lot of higher readings from those machines just because of the time of day it was done and various other factors. Don't worry about the SBP too much...just focus on that low HR. That's a sign of good fitness.

Keep up the good work!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by menglish6
I am wondering if anyone here has some insight into the possible relationship between a low heart rate and a slightly high blood pressure.

The gym I frequent has one of those self-test blood pressure machines and I've taken to testing myself before I work out. Lately my pulse is in the middle 40s (yesterday 46), and my blood pressure is usually something like 130-140 over 70. According to the little chart on the machine my systolic is right around, to a little above, high.

I was thinking that this higher number might be due to a lowered heart rate? Maybe the initial pump required to push enough blood around at the slightly slower pace creates a slightly higher initial pressure than it would otherwise?

Anyway, I'm curious to hear others opinions on this hypothesis.

(for reference i'm 6'6" 225lb and 25 years old)

Have posted this detail before but I'm happy to do so again.

I cycled competitively for many years.
Gave up, got good job, married.
Through pressure/work commitments, wasn't feeling well.
Went for medical - discovered I suffered from Hypertension
(high blood pressure).
Readings were 150/90.
Age 35 - weight 16 stone.
Too heavy.
(I'm 6ft 1"😉.
Started getting fit - immediately blood pressure started to ease back.
140/95 - 135/88 - 130/80.
My weight (16 stone) was three and a half stone over my cometitive cycling weight.
Now down to 14.5 stone and my BP reads 125-130/80.

I bought myself a blood pressure wrist measurement (sold in Boots) and I take a reading morning and night (at the same time each day).
I keep a record of same.
I cut out salt completely - ate fruit (good source of potassium which negates salt).
The blood pressure unit that I use is accurate and it corresponds to the readings my doctor takes (no white coat syndrome).
If you are worried about your blood pressure : see your physician.
then get a measuring unit.

If my heart rate is high (say 80-90 bpm) my readings do tend to be slightly lower.
If my heart beat is normal (for me 60-70 bpm), my readings are
slightly higher.
But the difference between both sets of readings is perhaps 5 +/-
for both systolic and diastolyic.
Your reading (130/80 appears to be normal) I wouldn't worry to much about it.
if you are worried : see a doctor.
All I wanted to tell you is that my reading is slightly higher with a lower heart rate.