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A new study found that just five minutes of vigorous exercise a day can help lower blood pressure. The study was published in the journal Circulation. For the study, the researchers analysed data of nearly 15,000 which revealed that running, biking, climbing stairs or brisk walking for just those few minutes can impact one’s blood pressure levels positively.

The study also found that increasing activity up to 20 minutes can help to reduce the risk of heart disease considerably. According to a report in NBC News, Mark Hamer, a professor in sport and exercise medicine at University College London, in a Zoom interview said, “Exercise is the most important thing favourably associated with blood pressure.”

According to the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), adults should get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week. To under how much of an effect exercise might have on blood pressure, Hamer and his colleagues combined data from six earlier studies that required participants to wear movement trackers on their thighs 24 hours a day.

The 14,761 participants had an average age of 54 and were almost evenly divided between males and females (53% women). On average, participants spent seven hours a day sleeping, 10 hours in sedentary behaviours such as sitting, three hours standing, one-hour slow-walking, one-hour fast-walking and 16 minutes in vigorous exercise.

The researchers found that replacing any less active behaviour with five minutes of exercise could lower systolic blood pressure by 0.68 points and diastolic blood pressure by 0.54 points. When exercise time was 15 minutes longer, the reduction was bigger.

The study says an estimated two-point improvement in systolic blood pressure was observed when 20 minutes of vigorous exercise replaced, for example, 21 minutes of sedentary time or 26 minutes of slow walking. The researchers say that previous research found that a decrease of two points in systolic blood pressure could result in a 7% to 10% reduction in heart disease and stroke death.

Jo Blodgett, PhD, a senior research fellow at UCL Surgery & Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health and first author in a statement said, “Our findings suggest that, for most people, exercise is key to reducing blood pressure.”

Blodgett added, “The good news is that whatever your physical ability, it doesn’t take long to have a positive effect on 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.”

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