Muscle Spasms & High Blood Pressure
After a shower this morning and my chest pain was really digging in, I decided not to go to school and go straight to the accident and emergency.
After the doctor shocked me with his cold stethoscope to listen to my ticker and also took my blood pressure. After consulting with another doctor he said that it may just be a muscle spasm that I am feeling.
My blood pressure was kind of high though; 145/93. A healthy blood pressure for some one my age should be 120/80.
I brought along my workout folder with me to show him what I have been doing and he said that I need to calm down a bit and not go so hard so fast. He was concerned that my new workout was too much for me with my blood pressure the way it is and suggested that I go back to a less intensive workout until I can get my blood pressure back to normal.
Then words that came out of his mouth that I didn’t want to hear……“What cardiovascular workout are you doing”
::crap!::
“None” I replied, and he suggested that I throw in some running or cycling into my program to help me get my blood pressure down.
I am currently trying to sell my exercise bike so I can buy a mountain bike but I have had no luck yet. The exercise bike is a killer, the saddle is like a razor blade and the handlebars are vertical not horizontal, and they are awkwardly positioned to hurt my lower back (which I can’t afford to injure). Let’s hope I can sell the execution bike soon.
I was thinking of doing Tae Bo, I saw a few workouts on YouTube.com. I’ll have to dig around and find some cardio workout for about 20 minutes that I can do on alternate days from my strength training workouts; until I can get a bike that is.
If anyone has some good ideas for a cardio workout that I can do at home, or maybe you want to donate $100 to my DoR bike fund ::joking!:: ha ha! 
But thank God that today’s news wasn’t that bad and my muscle spasm will go away eventually. I will be changing a few things round on my workout for Wednesday (just until my BP goes down) and I will post it tomorrow.
February 18th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Hi Andrew…I’ve been busy so I haven’t had much chance to check your site in a few days. I’d like to offer up some advice on the cardio problem you are having. First, have you thought about interval training? It will give you the fastest and best results for burning fat. There are entries in my blog and in Steve’s blog concering this, as well as a load of information on the web. Secondly, consider buying a jump rope for cardio. It’s not horrible on your joints because you don’t have to jump high, and it’s perfect for intervals. You can jump for 30 to 60 seconds at a strong pace, then relax for 30 to 60 by walking or jogging in place or lightly stepping through the rope as you rotate it. Plus, a jump rope costs little to nothing (you can even make one yourself). I use mine indoors by removing the rope and just using the handles to imitate twirling the rope. It feels just as intense and it’s even kind of fun. There is an entry in my blog on that as well.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Hey Andrew, I’m really glad everything was OK with the ticker. I’m sure that was a bit of a worry (boy am I the master of understatement or what?). I’d second Slosh’s suggestion of interval training. Jump ropes are good and very deceptive. That’s a hell of a workout. Heck, even shadow boxing is a good workout. Throwing punches for 30 minutes can be tough. But, like the doc said, take it easy and work yourself up to a hard pace.
May 4th, 2008 at 3:51 am
It was previously referred to as arterial hypertension, but in current usage, the word “hypertension” without a qualifier normally refers to arterial hypertension. Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. People with hypertension or history of cardio-vascular disease should avoid Liquorice raising their blood pressure to risky levels. Relaxation therapy, such as meditation, that reduces environmental stress, reducing high sound levels and over-illumination can be an additional method of ameliorating hypertension.