Running And Heart Rate: Running To Lower Cholesterol | Blood Pressure

By Patricia | August 14, 2010
Running And Heart Rate

Running and Heart Rate

There is a clear and observable connection between the action of running and heart rate. Modern technology helps one to achieve the goals behind one’s running. One such gadget is a heart rate monitor.  This helps you calculate your heart rate while running. This consists of two parts – a watch that is worn around your wrist and a transmitter that you wear on your skin and around your chest. The chest strap is the transmitter and the watch, the receiver. The transmitter will pick up the signals from the heart and send them wirelessly to the watch. The display is continuous and throughout your run. The watch has the heart rate function as well as the normal functions of a sports watch. This is an expensive gadget and may only be necessary if you wish you train depending on heart rate zones. Running has many health benefits and one of them is improved cardiovascular health. Running means you require more energy. To cope with this, the heart starts pumping blood faster than normal. The blood vessels then dilate to allow the nutrients and gases to pass through the body. This dilation improves the elasticity of the arteries which is turn helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure and heart attacks. As the cardiovascular health improves, so do the other systems in the body and thus overall health.

Supervised running and heart rate measurement is in fact an important evaluation of heart health. Running has several health benefits and lowering one’s blood pressure is just one of them. Running helps to lower blood pressure by making sure the arteries remain elastic. This happens because as a person runs, the arteries contract and expand more. This helps to keep the arteries elastic and the blood pressure low. However, running can have varying effects on a person’s blood pressure. For instance, holding one’s breath while running can raise the blood pressure. This results in muscle cramps. Blood pressure varies for each person and during each work out too.  If you are running to lower your blood pressure, ensure that you end your work out gradually and cool down. If you suddenly stop running, your blood pressure will drop drastically and you will get muscle cramps.

Running also helps to lower one’s cholesterol levels. A cardiovascular exercise like running helps the heart to function better and results in weight loss too. A healthy weight is important for keeping cholesterol levels in check. Running even for a little while daily will help to decrease your levels for LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase your levels of HDL (good cholesterol).

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