Who took your BP, how many times was it measured, and what cuff was used for the measurement?
Member
gaining weight and high blood pressure
Hi coach,
after watching video made by dr Jonathan Sullivan I'm convinced that weightlifting alone isn't the cause of high bp and in fact it's good for lowering blood pressure.
Despite that I have a problem with elevated blood pressure while doing the program. I started about three months ago, and I feel more strong than ever. My current stats are:
age - 31
3 months ago I weighted about 74 kg. Now it's about 79 kg.
height - 184 cm. My BMI is about 24 so it's fine. I still have visible abs.
current stats:
squat: 100 kg
deadlift: 115 kg
bench: 72,5 kg
press: 50 kg
power clean: 50 kg
When I started the program, my bp was about 130/80. Right now it's mostly around 140/85.
It's high enough that I started to worry about it and the only reason I find this happened is the 5 kg weight gain.
I tried to modify some things: added fish oil supplementation and some cardio (rowing machine) before and after workout, but the bp reading are still high enough to worry.
While doing the program, I slightly modified my diet - added 2 litres of milk and this is the only modification I recall. My laboratory blood tests are pretty good, so the only reason of elevated reading is probably weight gain.
My question is: is it possible to continue doing the program and gaining strength without gaining weight at the same time?
TMPHBITEU
Who took your BP, how many times was it measured, and what cuff was used for the measurement?
Member
Seriously. Once my doc saw the BP the nurse had taken, looked at me, eyerolled, and went and did it again with a bigger cuff.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
For such a usefully predictive measurement, medical professionals sure seem lousy at taking it.
Member
You're fairly skinny and your lift numbers aren't exactly spectacular for a 6 foot, 31 year old male. It looks to me that you are trying to find an excuse not to lose those abs. Unless you have a family history of blood pressure issues, early stroke, early heart failure, you smoke, drink too much, have very high stress issues, or are obese, then those numbers shouldn't worry you. If they start heading into 150+/90+ territory on a regular basis, then you shouldn't fear putting on a bit of weight. That said, there isn't any need to go nuts and start bingeing, just eat a few more extra calories than your maintenance number for your current weight and keep increasing the numbers on the bar.
Starting Strength Coach
Waiting for you to respond to Rip's question. You do realize that the skinny hypertensive has a greater risk of death than the fat one, right?
Member
Maybe instead of the “obesity” epidemic, we should refer to it as “adioposity.” There is definitely a risk from carrying excess body fat (the dividing line for “excess” is certainly debatable). And there is definitely a benefit to carrying more skeletal muscle, more of which, increases weight and BMI and clouds the picture.
When people on these forums are encouraged to gain weight, it is generally not with the purpose of increasing body fat %, but for the purpose of increasing lean body mass. Some fat gain comes along with that of course.
Astute doctors will realize this, but many focus on BMI. The reason is that the vast, VAST majority of Americans with high BMI are sedentary and sarcopenic. The folks doing regular resistance training, like those on these forums, represent a sliver of the general population, unfortunately. So when your doctor worries about your BMI after you gain a bunch of muscle, it’s not because doctors are wrong and BMI is BS, it’s because they don’t recognize you as unusual and therefore they are not using BMI correctly.
If you gain significant lean body mass, that should not increase BP, as muscle is very vascular and the increase in capillary bed should reduce the resistance against which your heart has to pump.
If you are eating above an appropriate caloric surplus, your BF% may be increasing, and you may want to focus on recomposition to get your BF% and BP down where you want it.
Sorry, this went off on a tangent and I just re-read the original post: sounds like your BF and overall weight are OK. You are 31, and if you are getting hypertension from an extra 10 lbs, you likely have essential hypertension that will need medication management no matter what you do. Do you have a family history of high BP? To avoid meds, you could experiment with losing some weight and see if it improves your BP. If so, keeping your weight lower and continuing to train would be a reasonable option. If you want to max out your gains on SSNLP and your BP stays high, taking a BP Med would be a reasonable course of action too.
Again, sorry for the extended rant above, it may not apply to the OP, but I will leave it in as I am curious about Coach Santana’s thoughts and it may be helpful to someone.
Member
I always learn something from your posts. Keep ranting.
Member
# Me too
"If you gain significant lean body mass, that should not increase BP, as muscle is very vascular and the increase in capillary bed should reduce the resistance against which your heart has to pump."
Is that a fact ? If it is-most interesting.
" I still have visible abs." Should have set the Santana sirens off.
Member
Serious question. Could this really be an issue for a 6 footer @ 80KG with a 70KG bench?
TMPHBITEU
Perfectly reasonable question.
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