My Blood Pressure And Cycling :Which Is Keeping Me Sane Through Lockdown

Approximately two years ago I had a stroke which ultimately was caused by high blood pressure. Of course with high blood pressure you have no idea anything is wrong until something happens such as a stroke or worse. Thankfully I recovered without any lasting problems, but to keep my blood pressure at an acceptable level I take medication daily. If I’m totally honest it is not something I want to do for the rest of my life.

I read or heard somewhere that a solution that will help your blood pressure to stay at an acceptable level is cycling. Since my stroke I have been promising myself to buy a new bike, but for one reason or another I have never got around to doing it.

So just after Christmas, I brought myself a hybrid bike and I’m so glad I did. Initially my cycling consisted of approximately 5-7km. Not life changing I know, but I knew I needed to build up to bigger distances. I gradually got up to around 10k on most rides and I was beginning to see a dramatic improvement in my blood pressure. It was definitely at a more acceptable level.

This really started to inspire and motivate me to lengthen the distances I was riding and hopefully help me reduce the amount of medications that I take.

In my youth I used to cycle all of the time and for some reason I just stopped. There was no particular or logical reason why that happened, it just did. I guess life gets in the way with work, family etc and it’s finding the time.

So when we were put into lockdown about five weeks ago, cycling was to become an important part of keeping my mental health and wellbeing in check. For so many of us being in this state of lockdown is a struggle. I know I have struggled some mornings to be motivated and inspired as we head into what seems like just another day that has been the same for the last seven days.

This is why cycling has been my life saviour. When I get up in the morning and maybe I’m feeling a bit down or worried, I get out on my bike and ride. I don’t generally have a set distance that I want to ride. I start with an intention of a minimum of 10k and then see where it goes. I have over the last week or so done 15k and 17k so I knew that 20k was reachable, I just needed the mindset. Yesterday I started out and as I was getting into the ride I knew that 20k was possible. My energy and legs felt very good and full of cycling, I was seriously motivated so I went past 17k quite quickly and by the end of the ride I had done 22k. My competitive nature pushed me to go further than I had been before. It was the same as I wanted to do 5k under 15 minutes which I achieved about a week ago.

I was immensely proud of myself and felt really good. Of course with any exercise, endorphins are released and these are like happy hormones to me. I feel rejuvenated and motivated for the day, even if it is stuck in lockdown.

Another plus for my daily exercise, which is always cycling, is one of my eight year old twin girls has developed a love of cycling too, and she also has a very competitive edge just like her mum and dad, and we did 10k on our bikes in the last week. Her determination for an eight year old staggers me. She never gives up even on the hills she really pushes herself. This kind of mindset will be a godsend for her as she grows up and comes across the challenges of life.

So what keeps me sane and my blood pressure at a reasonable level through lockdown? It’s cycling.

What is your daily exercise? I would love to hear in the comments below.