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Yet another new year and for everyone who is not at the healthiest, this time comes with resolutions – of wanting to lose weight, and be more active. Especially if you’re living with a chronic condition like hypertension, being more active is an especially worthwhile pursuit. But with the continuing pandemic and work from home, you might be struggling with finding routines that keep you active.

 Equipped with the right information, and the right attitude, there is a lot that you can do to stay active, even with hypertension. Keeping reading to know how to: 

1. Incorporate Moderate Activities That You Enjoy

Any physical activity that gets your heart going and gets you breathing hard, is great to incorporate into your life. Flexibility and strength are also important aspects of physical fitness that you should incorporate into your routine. Most household chores like raking leaves, gardening or scrubbing floors, involve a bit of all these and are a great way to stay active and keep your home clean. Putting on some music and finishing these chores off can help in keeping your active.

2. Break Up Your Activity Through the Day

Even if you’re not able to spare a complete hour for your workouts, you can still reap the benefits by breaking it up throughout your day. This is because doing three 10 minute sessions of aerobics gets the same benefit as doing half an hour of continuous activity. So go ahead and do ten minutes of activity for every hour that you’re sitting down.

3. Incorporate Activities That Get You Moving

Staying active doesn’t just mean sweating it out at the gym. This can also mean being more active in your day to day life – take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to the nearby shop instead of driving, or even play outside with children. Leading a generally active life like this can help better than any dedicated workout programme.

4. Try New Things Out

If you’re someone who easily gets bored, keeping trying new things. Whether it is a new sport or a new class, find new and interesting things that keep you active. This will be a great way to stay healthy and to even meet new people.

5. Make It a Social Activity

If you find yourself easily bored while running on a treadmill, try bringing a friend or family along. You can even be a good influence in your group by planning out active times together. This could mean a walk around the nearby park with your whole family or playing a game of shuttle with your friends.

6. Stretch at the Very Least

There are bound to be days when you don’t feel like doing intense exercises. Instead of giving in to your inner lazybones, try doing some light stretches. While this is not exactly going to burn calories, they will keep you in the habit of moving every day. Cultivating this discipline can help you in long term hypertension management.

7. Understand the Pitfalls of Being Inactive

If you’re someone who has a primarily sedentary job, chances are that you spend a large amount of time sitting down. Doing this for long hours, can affect your circulation, and put undue pressure on your whole body. You can find several reliable articles and research papers that explain in detail about the pitfalls of being inactive, especially while having hypertension.

8. Schedule It Into Your Calendar

Start adding your workouts to your calendar, in the same way, you would a work commitment. While this is a simple enough task to do, it will give exercise the attention it deserves. Making it a part of your calendar will even help you mentally prepare for a great exercise session.

9. Be Aware of Problematic Symptoms During Workouts

While you are well on your way to being more active, it is important to be aware of any problematic symptoms. Extremely high blood pressure, sweating, extremely fast heartbeat, these are all symptoms that your body is not feeling well. If you experience any of these, even in a mild way, stop following the exercise regimen. Consult with your doctor or your expert trainer to know about activities that are best suited for your body.

10. Stay Consistent With Your Activities

No matter what form of exercise or activity you choose to do, the most important factor is to stay consistent. Even the best form of exercise will not help you in losing weight, or becoming more fit if you’re not consistent. A good balance of cardio and strength training, when followed consistently can easily help a patient manage their hypertension better.

Whether you choose to follow all the above-mentioned tips or not, incorporating just a few of these into your life, are sure to help you become more active. When combined with a healthy diet, a doctor-recommended treatment plan and consistent self-monitoring, you can manage your hypertension with ease, right from the comfort of your home.

Phable is an innovative lifestyle disease management app simplifying life for patients & doctors through video consultations and remote healthcare.

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