These types of exercises are better than running or walking to control blood pressure.

Imagine if the best trick to controlling your blood pressure was neither exhausting yourself lifting weights at the gym nor breaking a sweat cycling or running... A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine sheds a lot of light on this problem, about which you've probably heard all kinds and colors of advice.

Researchers set out to determine which type of physical exercise was best for both preventing and controlling high blood pressure. Between 1990 and February 2023, experts systematically analyzed 270 randomized clinical trials—with a total of 15,827 participants —to evaluate the impact of different types of exercise on resting blood pressure.

To fairly compare the findings, they grouped the workouts into five categories: aerobic (which included activities like walking, cycling, and running), dynamic resistance (which involved movement and weight-bearing exercises), combination (which included both aerobic and resistance exercises), high-intensity interval training (HIIT, which alternates between quick, intense workouts and low-intensity recovery exercises), and isometric (such as squats and planks).

During the experiment, researchers examined systolic blood pressure (SBP), the pressure during heartbeats, and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), the pressure between heartbeats.

What exercises were most effective in lowering blood pressure?

While it's true that all exercises (all five types) significantly reduced blood pressure, not all were equal in terms of results. One type of physical activity stood out above the rest, and that was isometric training. The best exercise of all was squats, the same one that another previous study recommended as the most effective for lowering blood sugar levels. Walking, however, was the exercise that provided the fewest benefits in this regard.

Isometric training achieved, on average, a reduction in systolic blood pressure by 8.24 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 4.00 mm Hg. In comparison, the combined program lowered systolic blood pressure by 6.04 mm Hg; dynamic resistance by 4.55 mm Hg; aerobic exercise by 4.49 mm Hg; and HIIT by 4.08 mm Hg. Diastolic blood pressure, on the other hand, followed the same pattern: isometric training led the reductions with 4 mm Hg, followed by dynamic resistance with 3.04 mm Hg, the combined program with 2.54 mm Hg, aerobic exercise with 2.53 mm Hg, and HIIT with 2.50 mm Hg.

Furthermore, in people with hypertension, isometric training reduced systolic blood pressure by up to 12.2 mm Hg, demonstrating that the greatest positive impact of change was achieved by those who needed it most. Surprising? Perhaps. After all, isometric exercises barely involve any movement, but their high level of demand and prolonged muscle contraction trigger significant benefits for cardiovascular health.

Isometric exercises, in which we contract our muscles without moving our joints, may lower blood pressure more effectively than traditional cardio workouts or high-intensity interval training.

"These findings provide a comprehensive, data-driven framework to support the development of new exercise guideline recommendations for the prevention and treatment of hypertension," the authors wrote.