Best Exercises for BP

It’s well-known that exercise helps prevent high blood pressure – and can help reduce it if it’s already in the high range. But are there specific types of exercises that work best? Yes, say researchers who conducted a large review study involving 270 trials and nearly 16,000 participants.
Think aerobic exercises do the trick? They do, but let’s see what the research team discovered works even better.

New review findings published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggest isometric exercises – static exercises; the kind that engage the body without movement – are the most effective when it comes to reducing blood pressure. Think wall squats, planks, etc. – stability exercises that involve muscle contraction, but without muscle length change or joint movement. Isometric exercise proved more effective than high-intensity interval training (more commonly known by its acronym, HIIT), dynamic resistance training, aerobic exercise and even a combination of dynamic resistance training and aerobic exercise.

How big of a reduction in blood pressure from isometric exercise? Fairly significant: an 8.24 / 4.0 mmHg reduction after two weeks or more of isometric training (the first number is a measure of systolic BP, or the pressure in your arteries when the heart beats; the second is a measure of diastolic BP, or the pressure when the heart rests between beats). By comparison, combined training achieved a 6.04 / 2.54 mmHg reduction; dynamic resistance training a 4.55/3.04 mmHg reduction; aerobic exercise a 4.49/2.53 mmHG reduction; and HIIT a 4.08/2.50 mmHg reduction. Specific exercises also appeared to influence BP optimally: wall squats (isometric exercise) for reducing systolic BP, and running (aerobic exercise) for reducing diastolic BP.

High blood pressure is no laughing matter; in fact, whether acute or chronic, high BP can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Talk to your doctor about the power of exercise as part of a natural, drug-free treatment plan to get your blood pressure back into the safe range – or prevent it from getting too high in the first place.