Cycling My Way To Low Blood pressure

It’s been nearly two years since I had a stroke that was caused by me having high blood pressure. Well, it was not just high, but crazy high. Blood pressure sneaks up on you without any warning. Blood pressure is a silent killer because the symptoms of high blood pressure do not become obvious until more often than not, it will be too late to do anything about it. Resulting in either a dramatic change of your lifestyle or worse still, death.

The impact of having a stroke on me has had impacts on my life, but thankfully, physically, I have been very lucky. There was no significant weakness except a very slight weakness in my left leg but that has improved over time and I would now consider that 99% perfect.

One of the biggest impacts on my life has been the need to take medication on a daily basis. This is something that without question really irritates me. I hate getting up every morning and having to take three tablets before the day has even begun and then again last thing at night I have to take another tablet before I go to sleep. I know this is no great hardship and after all, two of the tablets keep control of my blood pressure, one looks after my blood cholesterol and finally the other tablet thins my blood to stop any clots forming so I realise the need to take them and they are doing me good.

The issue for me is that I don’t want to be taking four tablets every day for the rest of my life or at least if I have too then I want them to be much lower doses than I am currently taking.

So what’s the answer? Well I heard or read somewhere that cycling is a really good way of reducing your blood pressure and I had to think of a way that would naturally reduce my blood pressure. Cycling seemed like a very possible solution.

So I decided about a month ago to buy a bike. I had been thinking about it for a long time, but always found a reason to not spend the money on a bike, but I finally made my mind up and bought myself a 25 geared hybrid bike.

I have been out a few times in the last 10 days or so and on the last time that I went out on a bike ride which was about 8.5k. When I came home I took my blood pressure and was genuinely shocked at what it was. It was a perfect level, so maybe cycling does really open up the blood vessels and getting the oxygen flowing.

There has also been another bonus to cycling which is related to my eight year old twin girls who also have bikes. At the same time that I bought a bike my wife also bought a bike so now we are able to go on cycling trips as a family which is absolutely fantastic, spending time together outdoors and getting some much needed fresh air and leading a more healthy lifestyle.

I’m particularly looking forward to the warmer months so we can all get out on our bikes more often to have an adventure and create some family memories that hopefully the girls will remember for all their lives. I personally couldn’t think of a better way to be a role model to my twin girls than cycling and showing them the benefits of being healthy. Instead of being stuck indoors on a tablet or phone.

It’s been a seriously long time since I rode a bike on a regular basis and I had forgotten that feeling of freedom when riding a bike. It is truly an invigorating experience and a real sense of achievement if you have done a relatively long ride. It’s still early days, but once I have been on a bike ride, I can’t wait to get back out again on the bike. It is actually quite addictive so hopefully it will lower my blood pressure and get me fit at the same time.

Do you go on cycling trips as a family? I would love to hear in comments below.

Check out this very useful infographic on how to prevent having another stroke.