A study has shown that even just an additional five minutes of exercise a day can significantly lower blood pressure in people leading an average life. The research team at University College London (UCL) in the UK reported that they analyzed 14,761 men and women (average age 54.2 years) who voluntarily participated in the study, adding more physical activity, such as exercise, to their usual lifestyle for at least five minutes a day, and found this result.

The research team distributed activity trackers (thigh-worn accelerometers) and blood pressure monitors to the participants. The team asked them to record their participation in six main activities: daily sleep, sedentary behavior, slow walking (fewer than 100 steps per minute), brisk walking (more than 100 steps per minute), standing, and relatively more intense exercise (running, cycling, stair climbing). It was analyzed that participants slept an average of 7 hours daily, spent 10 hours sitting, 3 hours standing, 1 hour walking slowly, 1 hour walking quickly, and engaged in 16 minutes of vigorous exercise.

The research team analyzed what happens to blood pressure when men and women leading an average life replace their usual low-activity behavior with more vigorous exercise lasting over five minutes. As a result, it was found that systolic blood pressure (the higher number) decreased by 0.68 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) decreased by 0.54 mmHg within just one day. This suggests that physical activities like exercise can lower blood pressure quickly and healthily without causing various side effects like those associated with blood pressure medications.

 

According to recent research presented at the European Society of Cardiology, a study conducted in Pisa, Italy, found that taking a four-component antihypertensive medication (QUADRO) combined into a single pill for 8 weeks resulted in an average reduction of 20.67 mmHg in systolic blood pressure. While this combination has a significant blood pressure-lowering effect, it is difficult to avoid various side effects. The average age of participants was 57 years (47% women), and at the start of the clinical trial, the average blood pressure was 150.3 mmHg systolic and 90.0 mmHg diastolic.

 

Lowering systolic blood pressure by 2mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 1mmHg can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke by 10%. Dr. Jo Blozet, the lead author of the study and director of the Sports Exercise Health Research Institute, said, "Consistently engaging in moderate to vigorous exercise for 10 to 20 minutes a day can achieve these goals."

 

Short periods of cycling, climbing stairs, and other exercises, as well as running errands, gardening, and house cleaning, all of which involve moderate to vigorous physical activity, are beneficial for lowering blood pressure. In particular, regardless of an individual's physical ability, these activities do not take a long time to positively influence blood pressure. Hypertension affects approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide and is a major cause of premature death from various diseases. This study also involved the University of Sydney in Australia.

 

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The effect of exercise in lowering blood pressure is very natural.

You don't have to fear various side effects like blood pressure medication.

A person leading an average life tends to engage in more sedentary behaviors.

If you replace it with vigorous exercise and add more than 5 minutes of physical activity,

It is possible to lower blood pressure quite significantly in a short amount of time.

 

Rather than exercising slowly

Intense exercise, these days my mom's blood pressure isn't dropping, and I'm worried.

Is vigorous exercise possible for elderly people?