What's Normal Blood Pressure After Exercise?

Blood pressure after exercise can increase and sometimes even decrease from the optimal 120 over 80 mm Hg. This is perfectly normal and usually nothing to worry about.

What's important is how fast your blood pressure returns to its normal resting level after physically exerting yourself. Longer recovery times can be linked to worse cardiovascular health. In some cases, it may even be a sign of a serious health concern like hypertension (high blood pressure) or heart disease, especially if it happens in younger people.

This article explains why your blood pressure goes up (or down) after you exercise, including what is normal and abnormal. It also offers exercise tips to help control blood pressure.

High Blood Pressure After Exercise

Physical activity increases blood pressure. This is a natural response to your muscles' demand for more oxygen-rich blood. To do so, your heart has to pump faster and harder, pushing a larger volume of blood through a fixed network of blood vessels.

Because arteries cannot expand very much to accommodate the extra blood flow, the pressure will temporarily increase beyond your normal resting blood pressure. For a healthy adult, this is a systolic (upper) pressure of 120 mm Hg or below and a diastolic (lower) pressure of 80 mm Hg or below.

Even physically fit people or people will experience a temporary (transient) increase with exercise.

What's more important than the rise itself is:

• How high your blood pressure rises during exercise
• How quickly your blood pressure rises during exercise
• How quickly your blood pressure returns to its baseline resting state after exercise

Problems arise when your blood pressure rises too much and/or takes too long to recover.

Rate of Increase

An abnormal response to exercise is defined as an increase of 60 mm Hg in assigned males and 50 mm Hg in assigned females over the baseline systolic pressure. This is true even if your blood pressure is currently normal.

This much of an increase may suggest a future risk of hypertension or a possible problem with the left ventricle of your heart—the chamber that pumps blood to the rest of your body.

Level of Increase

Similarly, a rapid rise in blood pressure with exercise may be of concern. Studies have shown that a systolic pressure increase of 10 mm Hg per minute after two minutes of exercise is associated with an increased risk of a heart attack.A post-exertional systolic pressure of over 195 mm Hg increases the risk of a future heart attack by no less than 1.7-fold.

Speed of Recovery

Recovery times can vary depending on your age, cardiovascular fitness, and how hard you work out. Recovery might only take 30 minutes for an elite athlete but, for most people, recovery can take anywhere from two to three hours.

However, if your blood pressure stays high for several hours after you exercise—over 210 mm Hg in assigned males or over 190 mm Hg in assigned females—you could have exercise-induced hypertension (EIH). This is another sign of future hypertension or heart disease.

Low Blood Pressure After Exercise

Some people may experience a transient drop in blood pressure after a workout. This is referred to as post-exertional or post-exercise hypotension (PEH). The drop can sometimes be large enough to cause fainting.

With PEH, blood can pool in the lower legs rather than return to the heart. The reduced blood flow decreases the overall blood pressure, causing lightheadedness or dizziness as the brain is temporarily deprived of blood. Episodes can last for minutes or several hours.

PEH is due in part to the widening of blood vessels (vasodilation) that commonly occurs with exercise. But it is also influenced by the time of day that you exercise. Studies suggest that PEH is less common in the morning as normal circadian rhythms tend to cause the narrowing of blood vessels (vasoconstriction) to enable you to rise without lightheadedness or dizziness.

In most cases, PEH is not a cause for concern. Some studies, in fact, show that PEH is associated with a reduced risk of hypertension and heart disease.

With that said, exercise-related fainting episodes should never be considered normal and may be a sign of an undetected heart condition like an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or disease of the heart valves (aortic stenosis). Talk to your healthcare provider if you have prolonged dizziness or frequent fainting spells during or after exercise.

Long-Term Blood Pressure Control

Regular physical activity is an important part of long-term blood pressure control. Exercise conditions the heart and improves the health of blood vessels to help prevent disease.

A number of studies suggest that aerobic exercise also can help to lower blood pressure in people who already have hypertension and take medication for it.

Exercise can help you to:

• Manage your weight
• Lower your stress levels
• Deal with anxiety and depression

Keep in mind that any underlying medical conditions, including high blood pressure, can affect the kind of exercise program you need. Talk to your healthcare provider before you begin or ramp up your physical activity, especially if you have a heart condition.

Exercise Tips for Blood Pressure Control 

Exercise is good for you whether you have hypertension, hypotension, or normal blood pressure. The goals are the same, but there may be some precautions you need to take if you frequently have PEH.

General Guidelines

According to the American Heart Association, healthy people should get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week—that's 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Doing so cannot only help you if you have hypertension but can also reduce your risk of hypertension if you don't.

Examples of moderate-intensity forms of exercise include:

• Brisk walking
• Gardening
• Water aerobics
• Playing tennis (doubles)
• Ballroom dancing

Choose exercises you enjoy, whether that's a Pilates class with an exercise partner or walking your dog. You can incorporate exercise into your daily life without costly equipment or a gym membership. Taking the stairs at work or getting outside to walk in the park may be all you need.

When you begin your exercise program, remember to warm up before and cool down after your activities. Don't forget to breathe—holding your breath can further raise your blood pressure.

If You Have Low Blood Pressure

If you have hypotension, you can practice almost every form of workout and physical activity. However, you must avoid overdoing it and should take some precautions to reduce your PEH.

Here are some tips for exercising if you have low blood pressure:

• Drinking more fluids: Fluid helps keep blood volume at normal levels in the body and may prevent steep drops in blood pressure with exercise.
• Watching your electrolytes: Salt can help increase fluid retention in the blood vessels which can help normalize blood pressure. Electrolyte sports drinks are one way to add salt to your diet.
• Avoiding large meals before exercise: Large meals redirect blood to the digestive system and may lower blood pressure in the short term. Eating small, frequent meals can help avoid this.
• Trying support hose: Also known as compression socks, these tight elastic leggings prevent blood from pooling in the lower legs and can help promote post-exercise circulation.
  

If You Have High Blood Pressure

Always talk to your provider before starting or modifying your physical activity routine. While it can be safe and beneficial to exercise if you have high blood pressure, your provider might want to discuss the safest way to work out and get the benefits of physical activity.

Here are some general tips to keep in mind for exercising with high blood pressure:

• Choose an activity that you enjoy: You’ll be more likely to stick with physical activity that you like doing or even look forward to taking part in. 
• Get advice from a pro: If you’re not sure where to start, your provider can probably give you a list of activities that would be helpful as well as some you might want to avoid. For example, starting with basic aerobic exercises like walking or even just doing yard work or gardening can help you get into the habit of being more physically active. On the other hand, your provider might recommend you avoid doing activities that would push you too much too fast, like weight lifting or sprinting. They also may not want you to take up extreme sports like scuba diving that could actually do more harm than good for your blood pressure. 
• Start low and go slow: You don’t have to hit the gym hard for hours a day right out of the gate. Start simple and short and gradually work your way up to doing more activity. For example, what starts out as a quick 10-minute walk around your neighborhood could turn into a 20-minute walk, then 30 minutes. Over time, you might work up to an hour-long stroll or even a half-day hike.
• Be consistent: While any activity is helpful, you’ll get the most benefit by being committed to cutting down on your sitting time and getting more physical activity every day.
• Build in variety: While you do want to find activities you enjoy, that doesn’t mean you can’t try new things too. To make exercising a long-term habit, consider changing your routine once in a while to stay interested and motivated. You might find that joining a group class or having a workout buddy makes getting active more fun for you. Or, if you never seem to have a minute for yourself, your daily workout might be the perfect “me time” when you can be alone. 
• Check your blood pressure: Your provider may already have you checking your blood pressure at home, but keep an eye on it after you start being more active to see if you’re making progress toward your goals. 
  

Summary

Your blood pressure typically rises during and after exercise, but then returns to normal. While exercise is key to achieving your health and fitness goals, make sure you're not putting yourself at risk with blood pressure changes that are too high or low.

Share your exercise plans with your healthcare provider and start off with a regimen that is safe for you and meets your individual goals. Don't get discouraged—remember consistency creates the best results. Create a manageable routine, pace yourself, and keep going.