© Gary Moller 2005

For use Interpreting the results Lifestyle modification to improve and maintain cardiovascular health for life Athletic conditioning

By Gary MollerDipPhEd PGDipRehab PGDipSportMed (Otago) FCE Certified

Certified Nutra-Life and Kordel’s Natural Health and Sports Nutrition Consultant

www.garymoller.com© Gary Moller 2005

Gary Moller asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.All rights reserved

Last updated: October 16, 2010

© Gary Moller 2005

Table of contents

Consult your medical practitioner ........................................................ 3 Procedure .......................................................................................... 3

Gain daily baseline readings ............................................................ 4 Take regular recordings throughout the day ....................................... 4 Take readings immediately after significant events ............................. 4 Chart your results as you go ............................................................ 4

Interpreting the results ........................................................................ 4 Blood pressure and pulse ................................................................ 5

Measures that should improve cardiovascular health ................................ 6 Adopt the Okinawa Centenarian Diet ................................................ 6 Take supplementary fish oil ............................................................. 6 Take supplementary minerals .......................................................... 7 Take daily Vegemite yeast extract .................................................... 7 Take supplementary B group vitamins .............................................. 7 Boost Vitamin D levels .................................................................... 7 Take a daily broad spectrum anti-oxidant .......................................... 7 Learn how to relax and how to breathe properly ................................. 7 Keep the body warm ...................................................................... 7 Exercise in warm water .................................................................. 7 Do daily aerobic exercise ................................................................ 8 Shed unwanted body fat ................................................................. 8

What you should notice ........................................................................ 8 Immediate .................................................................................... 8 Long term ..................................................................................... 8 Baseline measures ......................................................................... 8 Measures during the day ................................................................. 8

When should you consult a health professional? ....................................... 8 Monitoring athletic conditioning ............................................................. 9

Pulse ........................................................................................... 9 Irregular Pulse .............................................................................. 9 Low blood pressure ........................................................................ 9 Peaking for the big competition ........................................................ 9 Dehydration, overheating, chilling and exhaustion .............................. 9

Product support and product purchases ................................................ 10

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© Gary Moller 2005

IntroductionBlood pressure and heart rate (pulse) are the two key indicators of the health of your cardiovascular system (Heart, lungs, blood vessels and circulation). As we get older, blood pressure tends to rise, if we do not take care. Stress, smoking, lack of exercise, overweight and a poor diet will pump the blood pressure to dangerous levels as the years pass. As many as ½ the population over 55yrs old may have significantly raised blood pressure. Blood pressure is the best indicator of cardiovascular and general health. This is why blood pressure is always on the list of things to check when you consult a health professional.

Heart rate, at rest and during activity, is one of the best indicators of general health and physical fitness. A low resting pulse and one that responds quickly and powerfully to exercise is a good indicator that you are in good shape.

Technology has advanced to the stage where the person in the street can now accurately measure blood pressure and heart rate without having to visit a health clinic. This has many advantages because blood pressure, like heart rate, varies throughout the day and from one situation to another. The digital blood pressure monitor gives a series of snapshots throughout the day and over weeks, months and even years, thus giving you and your health professional detailed information to work from to assess your cardiovascular health.

A single blood pressure recording taken at a medical clinic can be misleading because the mere act of taking the reading can cause a spike in blood pressure and heart rate (This is commonly known as the “white coat phenomenon” when blood pressure and pulse go up in the presence of a health professional).

A series of readings with your digital blood pressure monitor will:

Identify adverse health trends well before they become serious medical issues and are still treatable by conservative, non-invasive methods like lifestyle, exercise and diet

Demonstrate the subtle, but important long term benefits of measures like diet, exercise and relaxation

Help your medical practitioner refine medication mixes and doses to perfection while removing most of the guess work

Help you monitor relatively high risk situations for raised blood pressure, such as during pregnancy

Provide precise feedback on cardiovascular conditioning progress during athletic conditioning, including early warning of over training

Identify how your cardiovascular system responds to stressful situations and provide positive and immediate feedback of the effectiveness of interventions

Identify acute cardiovascular episodes like a spike or drop in blood pressure or pulse that should be brought to the attention of your health practitioner

Blood pressure and pulse readings are most valuable if you have a health condition that requires continuous monitoring. Regular readings throughout a pregnancy, for example, enable early detection of excessive rises in blood pressure well before it becomes a series health issue.

Consult your medical practitionerIf you have a medical condition, or are pregnant, you are advised to discuss your plans with your health care provider who should welcome this kind of monitoring and supporting lifestyle interventions with enthusiasm.

ProcedureAll recordings, other than your baseline readings, are taken in a relaxed sitting position with the monitor held at the same level as the heart (refer to the instructions that come with the digital blood pressure monitor). Take all readings on your left wrist.

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Gain daily baseline readingsEach day, before getting out of bed, take a reading of blood pressure and heart rate (the digital blood pressure monitor will automatically store the result).

1. Fit the machine to the wrist.

2. Lie still for a few minutes, relaxing the muscles, clearing the mind and breathing deep and slow from the upper abdomen (diaphragm breathing)

3. Activate your blood pressure and pulse monitor and continue to relax while the machine takes the recording.

4. Record the results and how you feel: you might like to note them down in a diary along with any comments about how you feel.

5. Repeat the procedure (1-4) in the evening while lying in bed immediately before going to sleep

These are your baseline recordings for the day.

Blood pressure should be at its lowest in the early morning (ideally, less than 120/80 while lying down and relaxing) as will pulse (pulse should be 70 or less). Depending on how stressful your day was, the evening baselines will probably be higher than the morning ones. If readings consistently exceed 120/80, you have some work to do! Read on…

Take regular recordings throughout the dayPick regular time slots such as 10am, midday, 3pm and early evening. Again, take a mental note of how you feel and keep a record of the results.

Take readings immediately after significant eventsSignificant events may be:

Getting to work

A stressful meeting

Encountering a phobia

Tight deadlines

Stimulants or depressants (E.g. coffee, nicotine, alcohol)

Being cold or hot

Exercise

Relaxation

Having a good laugh

Chart your results as you goYou can do this manually, but this is where a computer spreadsheet programme really comes into its own, if you have a computer.

With each recording that is charted the power and the accuracy of the monitoring grows. You can go a step further, if you have a computer spreadsheet programme, by adding a “trend line” that predicts with increasing accuracy where you are heading over months and even years. Your health care provider will be ecstatic to have a chart with this information at your next consultation.

Interpreting the resultsOpinions vary, but here is a general outline of typical blood pressure readings:

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• SITTING AT WORK

• LIFTING, CARRYING

• RESTING

• EXERCISING

8018080

11470

15080

122

Note: when taking measures with your digital blood pressure monitor, you must be still otherwise an error may occur during the reading; so stop exercising and sit down while you do this and take account that heart rate may have already dropped 10 or more beats, as might blood pressure. Women generally have pulse rates that are 5-10 beats per minute higher than men. However, one of the lowest pulses I have ever recorded (37 beats per minute) belonged to a fit 39 year old woman who commutes daily to and from work on a bicycle.

Blood pressure and pulse1. Your ideal resting blood pressure is about 120/80 while seated and 10 or so points

lower when lying relaxed (~110/70). If the resting readings of either of these two numbers are consistently higher than this, then your goal is to bring about a gradual lowering to the goal of ~120/80.

2. With physical effort, the principal rises are in systolic blood pressure (the higher of the two readings – 120/), while the diastolic pressure (the lower of the two figures - /80) should not rise much at all above 80. If diastolic exceeds 100 you might need to ease off the effort, concentrate on steady breathing and generally relax all the muscles other than those doing the work. Think positive thoughts and smile while you exercise!

3. If you are stressed – worrying about work matters, problems at home, impossible project deadlines, and financial woes or similar, the heart will beat hard and fast and the blood vessels shrink tight. Blood pressure rises and may be exacerbated by stimulants like a strong coffee or cigarette.

4. If the blood vessels are becoming narrowed or clogged for any reason, blood pressure, especially the diastolic reading will be persistently higher than /80 at rest and during activity. This is typical for a person over 40 years old who has any combination of a poor diet, smoking, obesity, inactivity, diabetes and persistent stress. Early clues that this may be the case are:

a. Resting blood pressure is persistently greater than 120/80

b. Resting pulse is quite slow (less than 60) despite poor fitness

c. Both blood pressure readings increase as exercise proceeds

d. Exercise pulse is quite low in relation to the level of perceived effort

e. Blood pressure, especially diastolic, is slow to drop back to pre-exercise levels after exercise stops. In a healthy person, the diastolic pressure should be within 5-10 points of 80 within 5 minutes of stopping

5. If one or both of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure measures are persistently around the 150/100 regions, please consult your medical practitioner before you do anything else; take along the readout of your measures and be guided by the advice you receive.

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Typical heart rate isRest, lying flat: ~60-70 beats/minRest, sitting: ~65-75Standing: ~70-80Walking: ~90-120Exercising effectively ~120-180

© Gary Moller 2005

a. Your medical practitioner may order a blood test to measure your blood cholesterol. If it is found to be raised, or the ratios between “good” and “bad” are not healthy, ask that you be given several months to work on diet and exercise interventions before going down the medication pathway. Read on…

Measures that should improve cardiovascular health(The following are general guidelines only: please consult your health care provider if you are under care for a medical condition and it is recommended that you also consult a nutritionist and fitness professional)

Adopt the Okinawa Centenarian DietThe Okinawa diet is markedly “heart healthy”. It is based on the diets of the Okinawa residents who consistently outlive all other population groups on the planet. A diet like this is the foundation for all of the other recommendations I make here. Exercise, lifestyle changes and diet supplements are mostly a waste of time, effort and money, if the baseline diet remains poor.

While you are getting the diet sorted, you can commence the following:

Take supplementary fish oilTake supplementary fish oil with Natural Vitamin E and cold pressed olive oil. Follow the instructions that come with the fish oil and take two tablespoons of olive oil per day. Most quality fish oil preparations have Vitamin E added. Avoid synthetic vitamin preparations. Wheat germ flakes and wheat germ oil are natural sources of Vitamin E. These (Fish oil and Vitamin E) thin the blood, keep the blood vessels clean and flexible and fight inflammation. Kordel’s Omega 3 Marine Fish Oil + E is a quality product that supplies these nutrients.

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Take supplementary mineralsTake supplementary magnesium, calcium and a quality multi mineral. These are essential for heart health, healthy blood vessels and strong muscles and they help calm the nerves. I recommend that you trial a course of supplementation using Nutra-Life Calcium Complete and Nutra-Life Magnesium Complete which are available through the Myotec Store. If you are low in magnesium in particular, this may be a significant contributor to excessive tiredness and erratic blood pressure. Take the maximum recommended doses on the labels for three months while monitoring your blood pressure.

Take daily Vegemite yeast extract- A yeast extract that is fortified with folate is high in B Vitamins and other substances that protect the heart and blood vessels

Take supplementary B group vitaminsB-group vitamins are essential for health, especially during times of physical and emotional stress. Kordel’s Super B Executive is a sustained-release, high potency Vitamin B complex formula, with added Vitamin C, minerals and calming herbs to help provide those nutrients needed during periods of stress and for ongoing good health.

Boost Vitamin D levelsVitamin D, in its active form, is a master hormone that is critical for health, including a healthy heart and circulation. The sun is your principal source of Vitamin D. Get 5-10 minutes exposure of most of your skin to the sun (longer or less, depending on skin type). On days of no sun, get natural Vitamin D by taking cod liver oil, following the guidelines on the label and from other supplementary sources, including Nutra-Life Calcium Complete.

Take a daily broad spectrum anti-oxidantAn anti-oxidant preparation works with the Okinawa Diet to soak up things called “free radicals” before they can do damage inside your body, including the walls of the blood vessels. Kordel’s Super Antioxidant is an advanced, sustained-release nutritional supplement designed to supply high-potency antioxidants in a form that is progressively released from the tablet over several hours, giving extended protection.

Learn how to relax and how to breathe properlyDeep, slow breathing, using the diaphragm is surprisingly effective in lowering blood pressure. Find a quiet place and play your favourite relaxing music. Lie flat, close your eyes; place one hand on your upper belly and breathe slowly in and out through the nostrils using only your upper belly to fill and empty the lungs. You should feel your hand raising and lowering with each breathing cycle. 10-20 minutes of this during the middle of the day can do wonders to blood pressure. Perfect the technique and ensure it is practiced during periods of stress and when exercising. Yoga and Tai Chi employ this breathing method.

Keep the body warmBlood is exactly like gravy – it gets sticky as it cools, forcing the heart to work harder and harder. Keep warm through exercise, keeping your work place and home warm and dressing for the conditions; and making sure that the arms and legs do not get cold.

Exercise in warm waterThe most effective way to quickly lower blood pressure and to keep it down for several hours is to exercise the whole body with vigorous hydrotherapy in water that is 31-33 degrees Celsius. The warmth and the exercise combine to open flush all the blood vessels of the body and the warm blood flows freely. The effect can be dramatic and lasts for hours.

Even if the only pool you can find is a spa pool you can still do effective exercise to lower blood pressure such as repetitive bicycling of the legs, leg tummy tucks and leg splits; arm

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sweeps, curls and punches. Purchase a pair of Kermitt Hydrotherapy Gloves from the FreeRangers Store.

Drink plenty of fresh water, be careful not to get over-hot and be careful when getting out and dressing, in case of momentary light-headedness.

Do daily aerobic exerciseAerobic exercise like vigorous hydrotherapy, brisk walking, jogging, swimming and cycling do more than just stimulate the circulation and burn calories. It strengthens the heart muscle and encourages the proliferation of the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) in the muscles. This proliferation of small blood vessel will help bring a gradual lowering of blood pressure readings as the months and years pass. 20-30 minutes of quality exercise is sufficient for most people.

Shed unwanted body fatThe deliciously healthy Okinawa Diet and invigorating daily exercise should result in a highly beneficial shedding of any excess body fat. Your weight will gradually settle at a level suited to the “healthy you”. No special dieting is necessary, if you follow the guidelines here. Let’s face it; weight-loss diets do not work. Lose fat slowly and it will stay off.

What you should noticeImmediate

Some measures, like exercise in warm water, relaxation and breathing properly should show immediate improvements of your daily blood pressure and baseline measures.

Long term

Interventions, like the diet, magnesium supplementation and aerobic exercise, will produce steady improvements that may only be apparent after three or more months have passed and their benefits may continue to accrue, almost imperceptibly before levelling off after 5-10 years. So, be patient and persistent.

Baseline measures

Morning and evening baseline measures of blood pressure and pulse should steadily decline and stabilise at levels that are in harmony with your optimum state of health and fitness. Pulse may decline to the low 40’s in the supremely fit male or female, but 60-70’ish is a great resting pulse for any body to have.

Measures during the day

As the months and years go by, there should be a noticeable smoothing of any spiking in blood pressure, especially those associated with emotionally stressful events. Overall blood pressures should hover closer to the optimum of 120/80 with fewer tendencies to creep upwards as the day progresses.

Pulse, on the other hand, should be more responsive to physical activity, but should drop quickly back to normal (60-80) upon cessation.

When should you consult a health professional?1. If you feel unusually tired when doing exercise that is normally much easier; if

breathing is laboured; if you have chest or shoulder pain; or if you have indigestion associated with unusual fatigue. Monitor your blood pressure and pulse, call your doctor right away and describe your symptoms

2. If you are currently receiving medical treatment, including any medication, discuss your plans with your health practitioner before starting and be guided by the advice given

3. If one or both of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure measures are persistently around the 150/100 regions or higher, consult your medical practitioner

4. If blood pressure is persistently low and you feel light-headed or faint5. If you suffer persistent leg cramps during the night

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6. If your pulse is erratic (this may show as continual error messages on your, as compared to non-error readings by other users)

7. Racing pulse (above 100 beats per minute at rest)8. Unusually slow pulse despite being unfit (less than 60 beats per minute and usually

associated with persistently high resting blood pressure readings).

Monitoring athletic conditioningPulse

As athletic conditioning progresses, the early morning baseline pulse rate should steadily decline. The more highly conditioned the cardiovascular system, the lower the resting pulse, as compared to earlier readings.

If cardiovascular condition declines for any reason such as due to overtraining, anaemia, or onset of an infection; the digital blood pressure monitor can provide an early warning of the need to rest, seek medical advice or to adjust the training regime.

Furthermore, the digital blood pressure monitor will show the progressive increase in resting pulse if the athlete ceases cardiovascular training for longer than a week.

Irregular Pulse

A common sign of overtraining and mineral depletion is an irregular resting pulse that is either unusually fast or excessively slow. This is common during periods of heavy training or competition and when sweating a lot. An irregular pulse may show on the digital blood pressure and pulse monitor as repeated “error” displays and you may have to resort to taking manual pulse readings.

The first step is to institute a period of relative rest for several days, doing little in the way of long or high intensity exercise. Read my instructions for Athletes for using Nutra-Life Magnesium Complete and commence the supplementation recommendations immediately.

Do not hesitate to consult your doctor at any time and, if the irregular pulse persists despite these measures, consult your doctor.

Low blood pressure

Low blood pressure in the athlete that is associated with light-headedness when standing up may be an indication of overtraining, mineral depletion and possibly an inadequate diet for training and competition needs. However, do not confuse this with the desired benefits of aerobic conditioning: low blood pressure is a typical and healthy side-effect of long term aerobic conditioning. Blood pressure drops due to the proliferation of blood vessels in the trained muscles and the slow pulse.

A period of relative rest and supplementation with minerals as per the Irregular Pulse recommendations

Peaking for the big competition

When an athlete eases off the training to freshen up over the last days leading up to the big event when peak performance is required, the resting pulse should decline to be at, below or very close to best previous baseline readings of recent months. The athlete enters the competition with confidence knowing that “all systems are go!” An elevated pulse on the morning of competition may indicate that not all is well and it may be better to cruise through this competition, saving oneself for another day.

When using pulse for assessing peak condition, take account the possibility that pre-event nerves are pushing up the resting pulse. Elevated systolic blood pressure alongside an elevated resting pulse may indicate the interference of pre-event nerves.

Dehydration, overheating, chilling and exhaustion

If the athlete is dehydrated and/or overheated or cold, the pulse will be rapid and blood pressure may be excessively low, as compared to usual post-exercise readings. This may also indicate low blood sugar levels, especially if the athlete is feeling faint and nauseous.

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Lie the athlete down; cool or warm as required and give fluid with a teaspoon or two of any kind of sugar mixed in. Recovery is usually quick.

Overheating without dehydration, such as occurs during intense effort of less than 40 minutes, may show as a rapid pulse with high blood pressure, despite having stopped exercise. This indicates the need for rapid and aggressive cooling.

Over-drinking without dehydration (Hyponatremia) may show as normal pulse but elevated blood pressure (Especially diastolic). Other signs are weight gain during the event, feeling faint, weak muscles and a headache which can become severe. This is common during long duration events like the marathon or Iron Man triathlons. Any indication of this condition requires immediate medical attention.

The pulse may be unusually slow and the blood pressure low, if the athlete has hypothermia (Low body temperature). The skin will be pale or purplish in appearance and speech may be slurred. The hand grip may be weak and slow to release. This indicates the need for rewarming of the body core.

In all of the above instances, seek medical help, if symptoms appear to be anything other than mild.

Product support and product purchasesGary Moller, Email: gary@myotec.co.nz Web site: www.garymoller.com PO Box 7366, Wellington South, Wellington, New Zealand

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