High-intensity interval training (HIIT) could be recommended for people with high blood pressure to help them bring their levels down to a healthy range, a new study suggests.<\/p>\n
Researchers said that they have shown for the first time that HIIT, as well as combined aerobic and resistance training, can bring down a person\u2019s blood pressure.<\/p>\n
The study also reinforced promoting aerobic exercise (on its own), such as jogging, cycling or swimming, as a method to control high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
Experts said the new study reinforces the \u201cimportant role\u201d exercise plays in managing high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, saw experts from Brazil pool data from 31 studies on high blood pressure and exercise.<\/p>\n
The studies involved 1,345 people with high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
They found that aerobic training showed \u201cconsistent reductions\u201d in blood pressure, measured over a 24-hour period.<\/p>\n
\u201cImportantly, this study provides the first evidence that combined training and HIIT are effective in reducing 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n
But they said that the evidence for yoga, Pilates and recreational sports \u201cremains limited and imprecise\u201d as they called for more work to assess the impact of these forms of exercise on blood pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, aerobic exercise, combined training and HIIT show the most consistent signals of benefit based on current data,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the study, British Heart Foundation senior cardiac nurse Regina Giblin noted that regular exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular (heart) disease by up to a third, with aerobic activity, like a brisk walk, remaining particularly effective at lowering blood pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis research linking combined exercise and HIIT to significant reductions in blood pressure over 24 hours is encouraging and reinforces the important role physical activity plays in managing high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile these findings are promising, more research is needed to better understand how different types of exercise compare,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is recommended that\u00a0you do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, and the most important thing is finding an activity you enjoy and can stick to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blood pressure is considered high when it measures as 140\/90mmHg or higher when checked by a healthcare professional.<\/p>\n
If a person\u2019s blood pressure is too high, it puts extra strain on their blood vessels, heart and other organs, including the brain, kidneys and eyes.<\/p>\n
If it is not treated, it can increase the risk of conditions such as heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, kidney disease and vascular dementia.<\/p>\n
Lowering blood pressure by even a small amount can help reduce the risk of these conditions.<\/p>\n
Giblin added: \u201cHigh blood pressure affects one in three adults in the UK, but many people don\u2019t know they have it as it often has no symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cChecking your blood pressure regularly and staying active are key to reducing your risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
UK Stroke Association chief executive Juliet Bouverie said: \u201cHigh blood pressure contributes to around 50% of strokes, but it can be controlled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst we\u2019ve known for some time the benefits of exercise in reducing the risk of primary and secondary strokes, we welcome this research showing the important role exercise plays in lowering high blood pressure.\u201d \u2013 PA Media\/dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"High-intensity interval training (HIIT) could be recommended for people with high blood pressure to help them bring their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701707,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[46869,64,63,63672,554,538,137,10148,38034,10153,23574],"class_list":["post-701706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-aerobic-exercise","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cardio","tag-exercise","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-high-blood-pressure","tag-hiit","tag-hypertension","tag-workout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}