A weekly session of isometric exercise training may maintain lower blood pressure
Reductions in blood pressure may be maintained over the short term with just one or two sessions of isometric exercise training a week, research published online in the journal BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine suggests.
A recent study published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine suggests that weekly sessions of isometric exercise training may help maintain lower blood pressure over short periods. The research involved 100 adults with normal to high-normal systolic blood pressure who were randomly assigned to different groups performing home-based lower-body isometric exercise training.
After four weeks, all groups that completed the initial program showed significant reductions in blood pressure compared to a control group. However, once the groups were separated at four weeks, there was no longer a statistically significant difference in diastolic blood pressure for any of the groups. At eight weeks, those who exercised once or twice a week maintained significant reductions in systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure, but not diastolic pressure, compared to the control group.
Those who continued isometric exercise training three times a week maintained their blood pressure reductions and achieved the greatest reduction.
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