Exercise Improves Blood Pressure
07/09/2023
Good afternoon reader. I ended up taking a prolonged summer holiday from the blog, but I’m back in action now and the topic of today’s blog is a really interesting one, I think.
High blood pressure is a well known and unfortunately increasing problem worldwide. As you may already know, the effects of high blood pressure can be very significant for your health. The good news is there are many effective ways to reduce blood pressure and various forms of exercise have been shown to be as good as and in some cases better than medication. A few months ago a research paper was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that looked at all the research studies that have used exercise for people with blood pressure. Let’s take a look at what they found.
Firstly, the authors reviewed 270 research papers which included a total of nearly 16,000 people. The types of exercise used in the studies included aerobic (walk, run, cycle), resistance training (lifting weights), combined aerobic and resistance, HIIT training (high intensity intervals of exercise) and isometric training (statically working muscles – mo movement involved). When the results were analysed it was found that:
- All forms of exercise were are effective at reducing blood pressure in people with normal and high blood pressure.
- Isometric training was significantly more effective than all other forms of exercise at reducing blood pressure. The wall squat/sit was the most effective approach of the isometric training.
- There was a general flaw in most of the studies where the group that did not perform the exercise (control/comparison group), were not monitored closely for their levels of exercise. This may have effected the comparisons between the exercise and non-exercise group.
Despite the final finding, the research is certainly promising for helping those with elevated blood pressure. The approach for the wall squat/sit involved taking up the position shown in the image at the top and holding for up to 2 minutes. Then rest for 1-4 minutes depending on how how challenging it was for you. Finally repeat this up to 4 times in a session and do 3 sessions per week. Of course, it is important to state that this is not an exact recipe and the range in how long you hold, rest or repeat the exercise are intended to be adapted to an individual’s needs. I think that’s where physiotherapists or other exercise professionals can assist you.
If the wall squat/sit doesn’t suit you, two other isometric training options were identified. You could squeeze a soft object and hold the pressure with similar parameters to those stated above, this is known as hand grip strength. Alternatively, you could lie or sit, straighten your knee and lift your leg a few inches above the height of your hip, holding for up to 2 minutes with the same parameters again. This is known as knee extension.
In my opinion the most important thigh is that if you do have raised blood pressure and are already doing exercise that works for you, then please continue it. If you would like to take up exercise to help with blood pressure, it does not have to be isometric training. We know that the most effective form of exercise is the one that you can do regularly and consistently. The less barriers to exercise always make it easier.
Till the next blog, stay active and stay well!
Lonan Hughes
Chartered Physiotherapist