Recent research indicates that incorporating just a small amount of physical activity into your daily routine – such as uphill walking or stair-climbing – can significantly lower your blood pressure.
This compelling study was conducted by the ProPASS (Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep) Consortium, an esteemed international collaboration led by the University of Sydney and University College London (UCL).
Just five minutes of physical activity each day could potentially reduce blood pressure levels. Furthermore, replacing sedentary habits with 20-27 minutes of exercise daily, including activities like uphill walking, stair-climbing, running, and cycling, could lead to a clinically significant decrease in blood pressure, enhancing your overall health and well-being.
“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 joint senior author Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, Director of the ProPASS Consortium from the Charles Perkins Centre. “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.”
Hypertension, the persistent elevation of blood pressure, is a leading cause of early mortality worldwide. It affects approximately 1.28 billion adults globally and can result in severe health issues such as stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney damage, and more, often referred to as the ‘silent killer’ due to its absence of noticeable symptoms.
The research team examined health information from 14,761 participants across five countries to investigate how swapping one type of movement behavior for another throughout the day relates to blood pressure. Each volunteer wore a device on their thigh to track their activity levels and blood pressure continuously during the day and night.
Daily movements were categorized into six groups: sleep, sedentary activities (like sitting), slow walking, fast walking, standing, and more intense exercises such as running, cycling, or climbing stairs.
The researchers used statistical models to simulate the impact of individuals altering different quantities of one behavior for another, aiming to estimate the influence on blood pressure in various scenarios.
They discovered that substituting 20-27 minutes of sedentary time with physical activity each day could potentially decrease cardiovascular disease risk by as much as 28 percent at a population level.
“Our findings suggest that, for most people, exercise is key to reducing blood pressure, rather than less strenuous forms of movement such as walking,” said First author Dr Jo Blodgett from the Division of Surgery and Interventional Science at UCL and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health. “The good news is that whatever your physical ability, it doesn’t take long to have a positive effect on blood pressure. What’s unique about our exercise variable is that it includes all exercise-like activities, from running for a bus to a short cycling errand, many of which can be integrated into daily routines.
“For those who don’t do a lot of exercise, walking still has some positive benefits for blood pressure. But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect.”
Professor Mark Hamer, joint senior author of the study and ProPASS Deputy Director from UCL, said: “Our findings show how powerful research platforms like the ProPASS consortium are for identifying relatively subtle patterns of exercise, sleep, and sedentary behavior that have significant clinical and public health importance.”
Journal reference:
- Joanna M. Blodgett, et al. Device-Measured 24-Hour Movement Behaviors and Blood Pressure: A 6-Part Compositional Individual Participant Data Analysis in the ProPASS Consortium. Circulation, 2024; DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.124.069820