Isometric exercises, which involve contracting muscles to hold the body in position without moving, are best for lowering resting blood pressure, according to results from 270 randomized clinical trials involving 15,827 participants.
After isometric exercises, which include activities such as wall squats, combined training tended to reduce blood pressure the most, followed by dynamic resistance training, aerobic exercise, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Existing guidelines, which are based on older research and don’t include data from new forms of exercise such as HIIT, tend to emphasize aerobic training such as running for controlling blood pressure. In addition to helping clinicians optimize individualized exercise recommendations, the new findings suggest that it might be time to update exercise guidelines for preventing and treating high blood pressure, the researchers wrote in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Emily Harris Published Online: August 2, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.13616