Handstand & Blood Pressure

Hi,

last night we had a discussion about handstands. Does a handstand (while you are doing a handstand) change the blood pressure? Have searched for an answer but couldn´t find anything  I trust.

Thanks

-Dieter

Good question Dieter!

I will try it on myself and measure it the next days.

Blood pressure it is highly related to the level of apnea which is related to the percentage of the effort compared to 1RM, the less the effort it is high the less the blood pressure it is. if you can relax into the handstand there are no reason for the  blood pressure to increase.

There is a good discussion of this (for headstands) in "Anatomy of Hatha Yoga" by H. David Coulter.

"[Blood pressure] increases below the heart and decreases above the heart because of the weight of the column of blood in an artery adds to (or subtracts from) the pressure generated by the heart and by peripheral resistance."

"In a standing position with blood pressure in medium-sized arteries at 120/80 mm Hg at heart level, blood pressure will be <...snip...> about 100/60 mm Hg in the brain (fig. 8.2a)."

"Turning upside down in the headstand reverses the figures seen standing in a straightforward fashion."

"We can calculate that blood pressure at the top of the head increases from 100/60 mm Hg in a standing position to 150/110 mm Hg in the headstand (fig. 8.2b), or even higher if you are not confident of the posture."