{
  "id": 16897752,
  "title": "One simple exercise that could lower blood pressure",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/one-simple-exercise-that-could-lower-blood-pressure",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-28T12:00:29.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Economic Times",
    "slug": "the-economic-times",
    "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/this-one-simple-exercise-done-just-once-a-week-for-2-minutes-could-help-lower-blood-pressure-study-finds/articleshow/135263954.cms"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A straightforward exercise - wall squats - may help lower blood pressure, according to a recent study. Researchers found that doing wall squats just once or twice a week could help keep systolic blood pressure down over the short term. While more frequent workouts could lead to larger and more lasting improvements, the study suggests that even a weekly session of isometric exercise, like wall squats, could help people keep their blood pressure improvements. Isometric exercise involves tightening muscles while maintaining a fixed body position, with wall squats being a common example. Previous research has shown that isometric training can effectively lower blood pressure, but it was unclear how often these exercises need to be done to maintain cardiovascular benefits.\n\nFor the study, 100 adults with an average age of 37.4 years were recruited. They had systolic blood pressure between 120 and 140 mmHg and did not regularly exercise. Participants were randomly split into five groups. One group served as a control, while the others did the same four-week isometric exercise program at home. The program involved four wall squat holds per session, with two minutes of seated recovery in between each hold. Participants did this routine three times a week for the first four weeks. After that, one group continued three weekly sessions, another did it twice weekly, and a third did it once a week. The fourth group stopped exercising altogether.\n\nBlood pressure, heart rate, and other cardiovascular measures were measured at the start and after four and eight weeks. All exercise groups saw significant drops in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure compared to the control group. However, the benefits in diastolic blood pressure vanished after participants moved to less frequent exercise schedules. Four weeks later, those who exercised once or twice weekly maintained significant reductions in systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure compared to the control group. The participants who kept doing wall squats three times a week saw the biggest benefits, with an average drop of 13.73 mmHg in systolic blood pressure. The twice-weekly group had an average reduction of 6.95 mmHg, and the once-a-week group had a 6.56 mmHg decrease. Those who stuck to the three-session schedule also kept their other cardiovascular improvements, like lower total peripheral resistance and better heart rate variability. Stopping exercise caused the blood pressure benefits to vanish. Participants who stopped wall squats after the first four weeks saw their blood pressure readings no longer differ from the control group. This finding suggests that regular isometric exercise may be crucial for preserving cardiovascular benefits. However, the maintenance phase was only four weeks long, so more research is needed to see if less frequent training can keep these benefits going for months or years. The study shows that while less frequent isometric exercise might be enough to keep blood pressure down in the short term, more frequent workouts are needed to keep these benefits and the related vascular and cardiac autonomic changes.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}