Stress Ball

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
hotwheels,

What field of medicine do you practice ?



Physicians practice medicine. As a nurse I have patients to take care of, but I do not practice medicine.

hotwheels

 

[Mr Nice]

10-4

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: aa1986
Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
No, I don't need a ball nor do I need to stuff drugs into my mouth to maintain normal blood pressure. I just eat healthy and get plenty of exercise.

At my last checkup my blood pressure was 128/82.


Squeezing the stress ball actually is exercise which at first raises the blood pressure, then lowers it, just like any other physical exercise. That makes it potentially useful for people who spend a lot of time sitting at their job.

Not sure how old you are, but 128/82 mm Hg is in the prehypertensive 120 -139/80-89 range.

hotwheels


I would not imagine that with all that healthy living and eating that Pop's blood pressure would be higher than normal.


Pop is retired. At a retirement age, to have BP numbers like that, without medication for hypertension, is far better than average.

I am 51, exercise very regularly, and have numbers that are only slightly lower.

You're doing quite well, Pop!

 

[hotwheels]

Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: aa1986
Originally Posted By: hotwheels
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
No, I don't need a ball nor do I need to stuff drugs into my mouth to maintain normal blood pressure. I just eat healthy and get plenty of exercise.

At my last checkup my blood pressure was 128/82.


Squeezing the stress ball actually is exercise which at first raises the blood pressure, then lowers it, just like any other physical exercise. That makes it potentially useful for people who spend a lot of time sitting at their job.

Not sure how old you are, but 128/82 mm Hg is in the prehypertensive 120 -139/80-89 range.

hotwheels


I would not imagine that with all that healthy living and eating that Pop's blood pressure would be higher than normal.


Pop is retired. At a retirement age, to have BP numbers like that, without medication for hypertension, is far better than average.

I am 51, exercise very regularly, and have numbers that are only slightly lower.

You're doing quite well, Pop!


I don't disagree with that, but his numbers are smack-dab in the middle of the prehypertensive range. And no, I'm not saying he would be better off taking a pill to lower his BP. I see the nasty and often debilitating side effects that blood pressure medications can have every day. Also, the opinions on slighlty elevated blood pressure and the involved risks are changing, with slightly higher numbers becoming more acceptable. However, he may want to try the stress ball and see if it does have a positive effect. What would be the harm in trying?

As for yourself, how much do you exercise? I'm 49 and walk on average 7 miles per day, 3 of those at a brisk speed, often running. I do 80 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, 25 pull-ops and currently 40 Burpees daily. I also go swimming an hour three times a week. My resting BP is usually around 110 to 115 over around 70. My resting heart rate is 65. I have been using the stress ball daily for 6 weeks, but I have not noticed any change, but considering my level of activity, I did not expect to see any changes. But for an inactive person it may make all the difference.

For example, a bedridden person loses strength dramatically and really fast over the course of just a few days. For an old person, even sitting up at the edge of the bed may be a physically effective exercise. It's all just a matter of ones condition.

hotwheels

 

[Astro14]

My numbers are very similar to yours. But because my job is sedentary (not a lot of walking to be done in a cockpit, where I am generally buckled into a seat) I have to spend quite a bit of time at the gym to keep my weight where I would like it and my diastolic below 80. My resting pulse is about 60, but I've always had a low resting pulse.

Today, for example, was 60 minutes of cardio (at a good 130 BPM) followed by weight circuits at the NAB Coronado gym. I don't know what a burpee is (haven't yet joined that cult), but I've been buying the same size 501 Levi's since my first pair in 1983...that's how I judge if my workout program is effective...

 

[hotwheels]

White knuckle flying may be more effective than a stress ball!

A Burpee is probably the most effective full-body exercise you can do. In its simple form, there are more difficult variants, you stand, drop into a squat, put your hands on the ground in front of and in between your legs, kick your legs back all the way into a plank position, do a push up, return your feet to a squat position, stand up and jump high, arms raised. Vey good aerobic, cardio and strenght exercise that also improves coordination. If I were limited to doing only one workout, I would do Burpees.

From wikipedia:
According to Oxford Dictionaries Online, the exercise was named in the 1930s for American physiologist Royal H. Burpee, who developed the burpee test. He earned a PhD in applied physiology from Columbia University in 1940 and created the "burpee" exercise as part of his PhD thesis as a quick and simple way to assess fitness.[8] The exercise was popularized when the United States Armed Services adopted it as a way to assess the fitness level of recruits when the US entered WWII. Consisting of a series of the exercises performed in rapid succession, the test was meant to be a quick measure of agility, coordination and strength.[9]

hotwheels

 

[Astro14]

Ah...now I see...

My USMC Drill Instructor called that a "Hop & Pop"...

As in, "Hops and Pops, begin!"...

 

[Merkava_4]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
I do hope you're doing this with a doctor's prescription and under a doctor's care, with regular INR tests at a blood lab.
Warfarin can kill you if your INR number goes too high.


I don't bother with any of that. I have a large jelly bean jar next to the computer and I pop it like candy.