Doctors have long prescribed physical exercise to prevent diseases and help in their treatment. Something as simple as taking the stairs instead of taking the elevator, or going to work or running an errand by walking or cycling can improve health in young people and contribute to active and healthy aging from middle age onwards.
There is also scientific evidence on the multiple benefits of exercise, and a new study in which data from more than 14,000 volunteers have been analyzed has shown the importance of carrying out activities that raise the heart rate to control blood pressure, a very important fact. relevant without taking into account that hypertension is known as the ‘silent killer’ because it can go unnoticed and is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular and other diseases.
The research has been published in the journal Circulation and suggests that just five minutes of daily activity could lower blood pressure, while replacing sedentary behaviors with 20-27 minutes of exercise a day, such as climbing stairs, walking uphill, running or cycling, could also produce a clinically relevant reduction in blood pressure.
Activities that reduce cardiovascular risk by 28%
“Hypertension is one of the biggest global health problems, but unlike other leading causes of cardiovascular mortality, there are relatively accessible ways to address the problem other than medication,” said Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis, director of the ProPASS Consortium Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep), an international academic collaboration led by the University of Sydney and University College London (UCL).
“The finding that doing just five extra minutes of exercise per day could be associated with significantly lower blood pressure readings emphasizes how powerful short bouts of higher-intensity movement could be for blood pressure control,” he added. .
The research team analyzed health data from 14,761 volunteers in five countries to study how replacing one type of activity with another throughout the day could affect blood pressure. Each participant wore an accelerometer device on their thigh to measure their activity levels and blood pressure, both day and night. Daily activities were divided into six categories: sleep, sedentary behavior (such as sitting), slow walking, fast walking, standing, and more intense exercise such as running, cycling, or climbing stairs.
“Exercise is key to lowering blood pressure, and includes exercise-like activities, such as running to catch the bus or taking a short bike ride, which can be integrated into your daily routine”
Using statistical models, the team estimated the effects on blood pressure of replacing sedentary behavior with 20 to 27 minutes of exercise per day and found that this could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 28% at the population level.
“Our findings suggest that for most people exercise is key to lowering 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 your blood pressure. Furthermore, this includes all exercise-like activities, from running to catch the bus to taking a short bike ride, which in many cases can be integrated into the daily routine,” explained Dr Jo Blodgett, first author of the study.
“For those who don’t exercise much, walking also has some positive benefits for blood pressure. But if you want to change your blood pressure, demanding more from the cardiovascular system through exercise will have a greater effect,” concludes the researcher.
