Thank you for entertaining my question. I am and have been for 30 years a very heavy exerciser (56 yo male). I had CABG Feb 2003 for an LAD blockage and am now feeling at least 100%. About three years ago I had a treadmill test where it was found that I appeared to have exercise induced hypertension. BP went to 210/110 at max exertion (15 mets I believe). I had another last week that was also high in spite of the fact that my resting BP averages 110/70 without meds.
I have thought of two possible explanations for this phenomena in me, other than being pre-hypertensive. The first would be that in the Bruce protocol, one is given essentially no time to warm up and get the small vessels in the working muscle dilated for the heavy exertion. You are into fairly heavy work within 10 minutes and the early stages are not really enough to effect a warm up.
The second area is fluid retention. I remember reading the late running Guru Dr. George Sheehan that runners often show reduced hemocrit. The had been blamed on micro bleeding into the intestines, but later evidence showed that endurance athletes often have significantly elevated blood volume. This is apparently due to the body's compensation for extended exertion.
I have noticed that after a workout, my BP can be very low, like 100/50 when I am somewhat dehydrated. Do you think either of the factors I mentioned could be responsible for the treadmill BP measurements? Secondly, do you think that if not, does the hypertensive effect during exercise pose a significant risk to my arteries?