We all know exercise is good for us – but we don’t all have the time, motivation, or mobility to put in regular workout sessions. Researchers are trying to help by looking for activities that bring the most benefits for the least amount of time and effort.
In a new study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, a team led by researchers from Canterbury Christ Church University in the UK has identified isometric exercise training (IET) as a way of reducing blood pressure with just a couple of sessions a week.
That’s any training where one position is held for a few minutes at a time. Staying in a squat, holding a plank pose, or doing a hand grip exercise would all count.
These exercises are simple and quick to do, require no equipment, and the researchers suggest they’re a worthwhile option for those who can’t manage longer, more comprehensive workouts.
Over the course of the study period, IET was linked to drops in systolic blood pressure – the top number in a reading like 130/85, showing peak artery pressure as your heart pumps blood out, and the average pressure in the arteries overall.
“Lower-frequency IET can help maintain short-term blood pressure reductions, providing a pragmatic option for individuals with limited time or adherence challenges,” write the researchers in their published paper.
IET has already been associated with lowering blood pressure in previous studies, but before now no one had really investigated how much of it was needed – the duration and frequency required for the biggest benefits.
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Here, the researchers recruited 100 adults with an average age of 37, who weren’t meeting minimum exercise guidelines and had normal to high-normal systolic blood pressure (that’s in the range 120–140 mm Hg).
For four weeks, 80 of these volunteers were asked to do wall squats three times a week (four squats each session), while the other 20 acted as a control group. For the four weeks after that, the exercise participants were asked to keep up the three weekly sessions, or drop down to two, one, or none.
After the first four weeks, systolic blood pressure in the exercising group had dropped by an average of 9.45 mm Hg, compared to the control group. For those who kept up the three sessions for eight weeks, the average drop increased to 13.73 mm Hg.
For those who went down to a couple of sessions or a single session, the overall average drop after eight weeks was around 6.5–7 mm Hg. The blood pressure of those who gave up the exercises after four weeks, meanwhile, was back to its previous level after four weeks.
“For optimal blood pressure reductions and the maintenance of a broader range of physiological adaptations, a frequency of three times per week may be recommended,” write the researchers.
It’s strong evidence for the benefit of IET when it comes to blood pressure: systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure all improved significantly compared to the control group after four weeks, though how often participants did the training didn’t make a meaningful difference to the results.
The researchers think that the exercises may be relaxing and widening blood vessels, and putting the nervous system into a calmer mode – but more detailed, longer-term studies will be needed to know for sure.
“While causality cannot be confirmed, the observed alignment between the mechanistic decline and the loss of blood pressure reduction suggests that training frequency plays a critical role in sustaining the cardiovascular adaptations necessary for blood pressure control following IET,” write the researchers.
The team also suggests that extending the IET beyond a couple of months may lead to actual structural changes in blood pressure, meaning the benefits wouldn’t disappear as soon as the exercise stopped, as happened here.
It’s another reminder that when it comes to staying healthier through exercise, you don’t always need a lot of activity to improve your fitness.
“[The study] may inform policy discussions around feasible, scalable exercise interventions for populations with low adherence or limited exercise tolerance,” write the researchers.
The research has been published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.
This article was fact-checked by Rachel Garner and edited by Fiona MacDonald. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know.
