What’s the best exercise to reduce blood pressure?

I felt that this study from The British Journal of Sports Medicine by the authors Jamie J Edwards and Jamie M O’Driscoll was so important I decided to re-post the details here…..

Why is this study important?

It is estimated that more than 1.4 billion of the world’s population has high blood pressure (hypertension), which is a leading cause of disease and death. Commonly prescribed medications to treat high blood pressure carry a number of substantial limitations including negative side effects, considerable economic costs and poor adherence rates. As such, alternative non-pharmacological approaches, such as exercise training, are largely favoured.

Based on previous research, traditional aerobic exercise training consisting of 150-minutes of at least moderate intensity continuous exercise performed over the course of a week remains the primarily recommended approach for blood pressure control. However, these recommendations are largely based on historical data, and recent investigations have provided evidence to demonstrate that novel exercise modes, such as high intensity interval training and isometric (static) exercise training may provide greater improvements in blood pressure control. As a consequence, the optimal exercise intervention for the management of resting blood pressure is unknown, which will…