Holding Your Breath

It’s important to know that holding your breath holds the risks of elevating and spiking your blood pressure.

The reason is simple: The diaphragm expands and press on the blood vessels (also known as Vasoconstriction), as a result, the body has to increase the pressure in order to supply the rest of the body with the same amount of blood and oxygen. It’s quite similar to pressing on a garden hose which results in a high pressure water flow from the tube.
The danger lies In that a sudden raise in blood pressure can result in the release of cholesterol deposits into the hurts due to fluctuations in the pressure. Holding your breath is a very common instinct especially during an effort. This is also known as the “Valsva Effect” and it’s the primary cause for the premature demise of no other than the legendary Elvis Pressley. Elvis died on the toilet seat during mild effort when he was going for “number 2”. This was an era when the common diet was over saturated with bad saturated fats and trans fats and in turn high levels of Low Density Lipids (Also known as LDL, the bad cholesterol) were present and deposited on the inner lining of the arteries. When the pressure was elevated, as Elvis Pressley held his breath, some of these cholesterol deposits got what can only be described as a “push” and they were released into the heart with the blood flowing back to re-oxygenate. This resulted in an inevitable heart attack and finally death.

There are some techniques such as Isometric Workouts where the blood pressure rises further and it’s important to maintain normal breathing at all time. Done right, these exercises can in fact reduce blood pressure on the long term. The average blood pressure is 120 Systolic on 80 Diastolic and it’s important to test it in order to establish where you are standing at the moment and whether high blood pressure is a risk factor to you. You should always make sure you are not putting yourself at a risk if choosing to exercise in holding your breath.