Blood pressure after riding
 

I just finished reading the heart rate recovery thread. I don't use a heart rate monitor but have thought about getting one. I did take my blood pressure the other day after a 50 mile ride. It was down to 92/60. My normal is usually around 120/80. Does anyone else check their BP after longish rides? I guess dropping is better than going high.

Your drop in blood pressure is primarily a function of dehydration. Drink more during your ride. And before. And after.

It was pretty hot that day. I drank quite a bit but I will force myself to drink more on the longer rides. Thank you for the information.

A couple of weeks ago I rode almost 60 hilly miles in 94 degree heat. Drank a lot while riding and again after the ride, a lot. I don't think I was dehydrated when I got my BP checked a couple of hours later. It was 95/72. That's low for me, but not exceptionally low. I've had systolic numbers between 100 and 110 before.

Mine drops. I have read that it is also associated with a change in the size/resistance or?? of the blood vessels. Please see below and the link

http://www.livestrong.com/article/38...fter-exercise/

This. I do recall, too, that level of fitness has an effect on how low it goes. I can definitely say that, when I first came back to riding and was able to put out some kind of sustained effort, I had about a minute after getting off the bike to make it to the couch before I blacked out. Then I learned about cool down laps :) In any event, it'snot a problem for me now but it still gets down pretty low. I've seen 102/68. I've seen lower, too.

It is normal for your blood pressure to be lower after a ride -- and not necessarily as long as 50 miles. One of the advantages of aerobic exercises such as cycling is it causes your blood vessels to dilate, thus lowering blood pressure. The effect remains for several hours after stopping.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0629074420.htm

I'm quite sure this is not true. If anything, your heart rate and BP will increase with dehydration as your body works harder to manage your core temperature.

No I think he's correct. BP drops when you are dehydrated. Here's a graph from The influence of rehydration mode after exercise dehydration on cardiovascular function looking at how best to rehydrate someone who is dehydrated by 4% of bodyweight after exercise. They found a combination of IV and oral fluids was best at rehydrating and bringing BP up.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...3&d=1375590222

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332813

This is definitely true. Finished a long ride and felt very bad. Had difficulty breathing near end of ride. Took blood pressure and it was 70/40. Got nervous and went to hospital. I was so dehydrated they could not even get blood out of me. Several bags of fluid and pressure went back up. Lots of tests and everything good. Dehydration leads to low blood volume which causes low blood pressure. I no longer drink coffee the morning of a long ride nor do I take blood pressure medication ( advised by Dr.)

Thanks, I would have thought otherwise -- equating higher heart rate caused by dehydration, and higher heart rate causing higher BP. Looks like I should have done more home work.

This article discusses potential causes:

Potential causes, mechanisms, and implications of post exercise hypotension

Good info, but it really focuses on hypertensive individuals and is over 10 years old. If you don't have blood pressure problems (normotensive), it appears that dehydration may be the cause of a temporary drop in BP post exercise, as noted in a more recent aricle, and may be minimized by adequate hydration. studyhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23047713

But this stuff is very complicated, as a quick review of the article you posted points out, e.g. "Proenkephalin gene expression in the brainstem regulates post-exercise hypotension." Who'da thunk??

Very interesting thread. I've always had low-ish BP and I notice it "feels" lower for several hours after exercise. I had always presumed it was purely dehydration but attempts to maintain better hydration still left me with occasional black out spells if I get up quickly from a couch. I've had these issues as long as I can remember --even from high school where I was a three sport athlete (FB, swim, track). Very interesting.

Orthostatic hypotension. It's really common if you have low or low-ish BP. I did same thing when I was young, and occasionally now, if my BP is low-ish.

You are right. Dehydration causes an increase in blood pressure because veins and arteries decrease in diameter and restrict blood flow.

Do you have any support for your statement?

I always have trouble hydrating enough on long rides, so I agree that it is very common for me to feel dizzy when standing up too quickly. This is even more true (for me) at altitude, i.e. above about 6,000 ft.

Not a surprise though; it's been this way for me for as long as I've been cycling (~ 40 years).

Rick / OCRR

I had a reaction to my blood pressure meds (lisinopril) and I was dehydrated as a result of it. The doctor told me that it causes high blood pressure. Maybe there is a point where the equation flips and I was that far along. I know that I am fine these days. They switched my meds for BP.

You didn't read the posts above or cited studies?

If you are into experimenting, and seeing what affects your BP, there's a monitor (Omron 7) that is extremely convenient, and, according to Consumer Reports, as accurate as any other. It's a wrist BP monitor. Apparently it's more accurate that other wrist monitors because it detects when the monitor is at heart level (by detecting the angle of your forearm).

I just put it in the drawer of my desk, and use it to see how exercising, sunlight, relaxing, or other things affect my BP.

(I sound like a shill, but I have no connection or interest in the company.)

So I finish my ride and get ready for my one minute HR reading. At what point does the one minute begin? Right when I stop? When I finally sit down on my couch? Unless this measurement is made under controlled conditions it is meaningless. Please, somebody enlighten me on the proper non controlled procedure for a meaningful analysis.

That's a totally different issue from the BP stuff in this thread, but if you are talking about the "How quickly does my heart rate go down in one minute" thing, the answer is "from the second you stop riding."

This whole thread is sort of getting - well -

Start your minute the second (moment - instant- as soon as possible) after you stop. If wearing a HRM, simply wait 60 seconds. If not, you will have to figure out for yourself. I count from 55-64 seconds and multiply by 6, thinking I will have a pretty good average for what 60 seconds would be. But, this is non-scientific to say the least.

Have fun!

For heavens sake, of course blood pressure goes down after aerobic exercise - as pointed out, it's the dilation of the blood vessels. I have a blood pressure cuff so I've observed this numerous times.