Five minutes of exercise a day reduces blood pressure levels

Adding just five minutes of activity to your day could help keep your blood pressure in check.

Even walking up or down the stairs or up a hill could be enough, say researchers from the University of Sydney.

And replacing up to 27 minutes of sedentary living—such as sitting at a computer or watching television—with some exercise has a “clinically meaningful” effect on blood pressure, and especially on hypertension.

But even short, five-minute bouts of slightly more strenuous activity—such as climbing stairs or walking up a steep hill—starts to lower blood pressure, the researchers say.

They assessed how doing more exercise impacted on the blood pressure levels of 14,761 volunteers from five countries.  Those who were exercising up to 27 minutes a day were maintaining a healthy blood pressure level that could reduce cardiovascular disease by as much as 28 percent, the researchers estimated.

Although the biggest benefits were seen in those who did high impact exercise such as stair climbing or cycling, walking and other more casual approaches still had their place, although the benefits were less pronounced, the researchers said.  “For those who don’t do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure, but if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect,” said Jo Blodgett, one of the researchers.

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