tl;dr: looking for a moderately intense upper body workout that will impact heart rate the most.
I am a "new" runner again after not going out of my way to exercise for the last 20 years or so. My blood pressure had gotten insane (resting rate was clocked at +180/+120 at a Dr. checkup earlier this year.) so I decided to take action.
For the past couple of months, I have been working my way up from walking, to power-walking, to almost jogging and now into actual running at probably a 8-10 minute/mile pace. Thankfully, I have always been on the thinner side, so I get to focus purely on cardio for now.
Of course, my posture and gait sucked ass at first and I was pushing too hard without much recovery time, so as a result, I am babysitting minor MCL injuries right now. There isn't anything torn or anything, just sore as hell. I literally just got back from a 2.5 mile walk, but it was kind of pointless as it was extremely slow pace and I had to stay focused on knee safety.
However, as a result of the walking/jogging/running, my resting blood pressure is already down to a reasonable average of 124/90 and my Dr. has reduced my BP meds (beta blockers). As hell has apparently frozen over, she even managed to crack a smile over my lifestyle changes. (She has seen me through some rough times to include my most severe alcoholism days, so I was just used to stern looks and pseudo-lectures.)
Through my fitness apps, I noticed a direct correlation between max heart rate achieved (over time) to reduction of BP and lower resting heart rate and I want more!
On my running down time/recovery time, I would like keep to pushing my heart rate a bit. What upper body exercises are best for heart rate as I still am able to commit 1-1.5 hrs per day to fitness? Until I can plateau my fitness level and switch to more "maintenance syle" exercises, I would prefer to keep pushing fairly hard.
Any suggestions would be appreciated and I hope my storytime post gave context to my situation. Cheers!
This isn't exactly an alternative right now but you might want to consider looking into rucking. I used to run but after injuring myself several times and getting frustrated with having to take long breaks I took up rucking and haven't looked back. For me it hits some of the same feeling as running but it's low impact and can be as intense as you make it.
Ok, I listened when you commented but didn't say anything. My weight vest came in yesterday and gave my regular walk a try with with 22.5 lbs. (I can max the vest @ 45lbs.)
After about 2 miles, it felt like I had already done my daily goal of 8. I pushed harder for a bit after that and turned around. The last mile home was brutal. You were right, it's intense as you make it and it doesn't take much to turn the dial up or down.
Rucking really seems to be my thing for now and may even get a smaller vest for jogging and running when that becomes viable again.
Thanks for the suggestion but my body is going to hate you specifically for the next few weeks. ;)
Awesome to hear! I could go on all day about how awesome rucking is and it sounds like you're already an experienced runner so you probably know this already. Just be careful starting out on your joints, for reference I'm a relatively experienced lifter but I started rucking with only 6kg (I think 13 pounds) and went up gradually from there but yes it's an awesome feeling.
I also had some issues with blisters as I started going for longer distances but these are solvable problems with the right treatment and gear, not like shin splints and tendonitis that I was getting with running. Anyway, I'm so glad you enjoyed your first ruck, I love getting a full body endurance workout plus cardio all in one.