Exercise 5 Minutes A Day, Easy Ways To Lower High Blood Pressure

JAKARTA - High blood pressure or hypertension is one of the health problems that can trigger various deadly diseases, one of which is heart attack. In addition to taking medication, high blood pressure can also be overcome along with exercise.

A study conducted by researchers from University College London found that five minutes of exercise a day can help lower high blood pressure. The sports in question are cycling, up and down the stairs, which can lower the systolic blood pressure by 0.68 mmHg and diastolic by 0.54 mmHg.

"The good news is that no matter how physical your condition, it doesn't take long to have a positive effect on blood pressure," said researcher and epidemiologist Jo Blodgett, quoted by Science Alert, Monday, November 11, 2024.

The study was based on a week-long activity and blood pressure reading. The data were collected with the devices worn on 14,761 participants.

The daily activities carried out by participants were divided into six types, namely sleep, not moving much, standing, walking slowly, walking fast, and exercising heavily. The daily pattern is then associated with blood pressure with several other factors, including the age and gender taken into account.

The researchers then analyzed how changes to this habit could affect blood pressure. For example, replacing the habit of sitting for 21 minutes with exercise, it is estimated that it can lower the systolic blood pressure by 2 mmHg.

For those who don't exercise much, walking still has some positive benefits for blood pressure. However, if you want to change significant blood pressure, putting more pressure on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have a greater impact," explained Blodgettt.

Professor from Sydney University, Emmanuel Stamatakis also emphasized that light exercise is 5 minutes a day indeed can lower blood pressure. Moreover, high-intensity sports movements are very effective in managing blood pressure.

The finding that doing additional exercise for at least five minutes per day can be attributed to a significant drop in blood pressure, stressing how powerful a brief session of high intensity movement is in managing blood pressure," said Emmanuel Stamatakis.