We are always looking for small ways to make improvements to health. A new study is great news for people who find it hard to exercise every day.
A study with almost 15,000 men and women showed that adding five minutes of activity that elevates heart rate is enough to lower blood pressure. Activities like taking the stairs, jogging or other small but difficult tasks can lower systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). SBP is the number on top of a blood pressure reading. It is the pressure in arteries when the heart beats. DBP is the number on the bottom that is the pressure in arteries between beats.
“High blood pressure is one of the biggest health issues globally, but unlike some major causes of cardiovascular mortality there may be relatively accessible ways to tackle the problem in addition to medication,” said the study’s joint senior author Emmanuel Stamatakis a professor at the Univ. of Sydney and the director of the ProPASS (Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep) Consortium. “The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasizes how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management.”
The people in the study lived in five different studies. They wore devices on their thighs to measure movement and blood pressure all day and night. The devices recorded sleeping, sitting, slow and fast walking, standing and intense exercise. The team found that 20-27 minutes of exercise significantly changed blood pressure. However, as little as five minutes made an impact. On average, the study participants were sedentary for 10 hours a day, slept for seven, stood for three, walked slowly for one, walked quickly for one and exercised for 16 minutes.
“Exercise is the most important thing favorably associated with blood pressure,” Mark Hamer, a sport and exercise medicine professor at University College London (UCL).
Nearly half of Americans struggle with their blood pressure. That puts people at a higher risk for heart disease and strokes. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Even though many of us lead rather sedentary lifestyles, making small changes can make a big difference in our health. Many of us want to exercise more but can’t find time to do so. Making smaller changes can be more manageable and maintainable in the long run.
“Focusing on replacing sedentary time with small amounts of higher intensity activity or exercise each day may be a more achievable strategy,” said lead study author Dr. Jo Blodgett, senior research fellow at the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health at UCL.
