Five minutes of vigorous exercise daily can lower blood pressure, study finds

8th November 2024

Adding in just five minutes of vigorous exercise to a daily routine can help lower blood pressure, a large study has concluded.

Analysis of data from more than 14,700 people across five countries found that short periods of exercise that increases heart rate, such as cycling and climbing stairs, had a measurable benefit.

Using fitness tracker data, the UK and Australian researchers also calculated that as little as 20 additional minutes of exercise per day could lead to clinically meaningful cardiovascular risk reduction at the population level.

Writing in the journal Circulation they said walking was not enough and it had to be more vigorous exercise, including short bursts of running, to have an impact.

To look at the relationship between movement and blood pressure, they split the data into categories of sedentary behaviour, such as sitting, as well as slow walking, fast walking, standing and more vigorous exercise.

An average 24-hour day was made up of around seven hours of sleep, 10 hours of sedentary behaviour, three hours of standing, one hour of slow walking, one hour of fast walking, and just 16 minutes of exercise activities such as running and cycling.

Looking at the impact of replacing one type of activity with another, they found switching any less active behaviour with more vigorous exercise could lower systolic blood pressure by 0.68 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 0.54 mmHg.

To put this in context, at a population level, a 2 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure and a 1 mmHg reduction in diastolic blood pressure is equivalent to around a 10% reduction in cardiovascular disease risk, they said.

They estimated this could be achieved with around 20 minutes of exercise a day.

Study lead Dr Jo Blodgett, a senior research fellow at University College London, said for most people, exercise is key to reducing blood pressure, rather than less strenuous forms of movement such as walking.

‘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 climbing the stairs to a short cycling errand, many of which can be integrated into daily routines.’

Among those who do not do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure, she added.

‘But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect,’ she said.

Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, joint senior author and professor of physical activity, lifestyle, and population health at the University of Sydney, said despite high blood pressure being one of the biggest health issues globally, there may be relatively accessible ways to tackle the problem in addition to medication.

‘The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise or vigorous incidental activities per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasises how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management.’

In May, research showed that even light physical activity in children can mitigate the ‘ticking time bomb’ of cardiac health in later life.

A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication Pulse.

Inappropriate cuff size leads to ‘strikingly inaccurate‘ blood pressure measurements

14th August 2023

Using the incorrect cuff size when taking blood pressure measurements can lead to significant over and under-estimations, according to the findings of a randomised trial by US researchers.

Although clinical practice guidelines recommend the selection of an appropriately sized cuff based on mid-arm circumference before taking a blood pressure (BP) reading, the extent to which miscuffing affects readings was previously uncertain.

Now, in a study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, revealed that miscuffing results in ‘strikingly inaccurate‘ BP measurements.

In the randomised crossover trial of community-dwelling adults with a wide range of mid-arm circumferences, the researchers determined the effect of using a regular BP cuff versus an appropriately sized BP cuff on automated BP readings. Participants underwent four sets of triplicate BP measurements, with the initial three sets using an appropriate, too-small or too-large BP cuff in random order. In the fourth and final set of triplicate measurements, an appropriate BP cuff was used.

The team set the primary outcome as the difference in mean blood pressure when measured with a regular BP cuff compared with an appropriate BP cuff. The secondary outcome was the difference in BP when using too-small or too-large BP cuffs versus an appropriate BP cuff across all cuff sizes.

Miscuffing and blood pressure readings

A total of 195 adults with hypertension were included in the study.

Among those requiring a small BP cuff, the use of a regular BP cuff led to a statistically significant lower BP reading (mean systolic BP difference, MSBPD = -3.6 mmHg).

However, for those who required a large cuff, use of a regular BP cuff resulted in a statistically significant higher BP reading (MSBPD = 4.8 mmHg). Similarly, where an extra-large cuff was required, there was an even higher discrepancy (MSBPD = 19.5 mmHg).

For the secondary outcome, BP differences with over-cuffing and under-cuffing by one and two cuff sizes were greater among those requiring larger BP cuffs. The results were consistent in stratified analyses by systolic BP and body mass index.

The researchers noted that it was particularly concerning for settings where one regular BP cuff size is routinely used in all individuals, regardless of arm size, and called for a renewed emphasis on individualised BP cuff selection.