Blood Pressure Test

Measuring blood pressure with an arm cuff or wrist monitor is an important test for your health. But did you know that it also provides indications related to athletic performance? Low blood pressure with the test methods described below indicates that the athlete is not getting 100% of his/her performance out of his/her body

An optimal blood pressure is considered to be 120/80. Doctors mainly use an arm monitor, but wrist monitors are also quite effective in determining your blood pressure.

From a physical performance perspective, blood pressure also plays a significant role. If your blood pressure drops suddenly when you stand up, then your body is not functioning correctly. In such a situation, you might not be able to reach your full physical potential, which could result in weaker stamina than when you are in your optimal condition.

How to test your blood pressure

Phase 1:

1. Lie down for two to three minutes until your pulse rate has stabilized.
2. Measure your blood pressure.
3. Write down the blood pressure values and pulse rate.

Phase 2:

1. Quickly stand up and stay standing.
   
2. Immediately measure your blood pressure again.
   
3. Write down the blood pressure values and pulse rate.

Now, compare the results of part 1 and part 2. What do you observe?

• If both blood pressure values are near 120/80 and the part 2 values did not drop (or they rose), the results are normal.
• If one or both values drop or are lower than 120/80, you probably won't produce 100% amounts of epinephrine.
• If the values are around 85/55, the drop in epinephrine is much more significant than in values around 105/65. From a health perspective, this is considered normal blood pressure, but from a performance perspective, you cannot perform your best if your blood pressure is too low.

How to fix the problem of low blood pressure

You need to stabilize:

1. Exercise load (or other load like heavy working)
2. Nutrition
3. Rest

This is a triangle that many of us violate by eating poorly, not resting enough, and/or exercising excessively. Of course, it would be easy to say that it depends on genes what kind of results everybody gets. Well, everything does depend on genes, and because of that, some people can withstand higher levels of stress than others. From a performance perspective, your own results are at least comparable to your earlier results.

You can perform these kinds of home tests for physical performance purposes. However, if you get high (over 120/80) blood pressure results, it might be dangerous to your health. So, if you have high blood pressure values, you should take it seriously and see a doctor. Values above 130 (upper number) and 80+ (lower number) are considered high blood pressure. The higher the value, the more harmful the situation is for your health.

From a disease perspective, low blood pressure values are considered good. But from a physical performance perspective, it might indicate that you are not producing enough epinephrine (adrenaline), which is needed in every sports activity you do. An easy way to confirm this is to perform the previous test.

And if your blood pressure test results are low, one of the three previously listed factors is likely off. If your workload and rest levels are reasonable, it's worth checking if you're actually getting enough of all the necessary nutrients from your diet. If you're lacking in nutrients, you can live normally but won't be able to fully maximize your performance. Low blood pressure is a clear indicator of that.