Isometric exercises — tightening muscles without moving nearby joints, such as in a plank move — are effective for lowering high blood pressure. Even more, the findings could lay the groundwork for new exercise guidelines that would specifically focus on blood pressure control, authors of a study say.
Other research showed that aerobics, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and combined training can lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. But the recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine says isometrics are best for reducing blood pressure.
The report was a systematic review and meta-analysis of 270 randomized trials encompassing 15,827 people. The studies included in the report were published anywhere from 1990 through this year.
People did all the forms of exercise including aerobics, resistance training, combination training, HIIT and isometrics. Those who performed all of the exercises experienced lower blood pressure, but one category saw the biggest drop — isometric exercise.
Blood pressure fell by 8.24/4 mm Hg after isometrics compared to 4.49/2.53 mm Hg after aerobics, 4.55/3.04 mm Hg after resistance training, 6.04/2.54 mm Hg after combined training, and 4.08/2.50 mm Hg after HIIT.
Unlike other forms of exercise, there was a large amount of blood flow into muscles after isometric moves — which may explain the improvement in blood pressure, said Jamie O’Driscoll, a researcher from Canterbury Christ Church University and senior author of the report. The news comes after another recent study in Frontiers in Neuroscience found resistance-based exercise can be preventive for Alzheimer’s disease or delay its symptoms. A study out in June in PLOS One suggests that working out could also help build up pain tolerance and help people dealing with chronic pain issues.
