An Irregular Exercise Routine Can Still Improve Blood Pressure

Exercising once or twice a week may help preserve some blood pressure improvements, even when people can’t maintain a regular workout schedule.

However, new research suggests that continuing to exercise three times weekly produces greater benefits.

The study, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, examined whether less frequent isometric exercise could maintain the blood pressure reductions associated with regular training.

Isometric exercises involve contracting muscles without changing body position. Examples include wall squats, planks and handgrip holds.

How often should you do wall squats?

Researchers recruited 100 adults with an average age of 37.4.

Their systolic blood pressure ranged from 120 to 140 mmHg, and none had been diagnosed with hypertension.

Participants were divided into five groups. One group did not exercise, while the others completed four weeks of wall squat (aka wall sit) training at home.

Each workout consisted of four wall squat holds, with two-minute seated breaks between them. Participants exercised three times per week.

For the following four weeks, the exercise groups followed different schedules.

Some continued three times weekly, others reduced their workouts to twice or once a week, and the remaining group stopped exercising.

One or two sessions helped maintain improvements.

After the initial month, all exercise groups had lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, along with reduced mean arterial pressure.

The results changed when participants reduced or stopped their workouts.

By the end of eight weeks, those exercising once or twice weekly had maintained significant improvements in systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure compared with the control group.

However, improvements in diastolic pressure were no longer statistically significant.

The largest reduction occurred among people who continued exercising three times weekly.

Their systolic blood pressure dropped an average of 13.73 mmHg.

The twice-weekly group saw an average decrease of 6.95 mmHg, while the once-weekly group experienced a 6.56 mmHg reduction.

The three-session schedule also preserved improvements in other cardiovascular measurements, including heart rate variability and total peripheral resistance.

Stopping exercise reversed the benefits.

Participants who stopped doing wall squats experienced a return toward their original blood pressure readings.

By the end of the study, their results were no longer significantly different from those of the control group.

The findings suggest that even occasional isometric workouts may help maintain some blood pressure benefits, although exercising more frequently appears to provide better results.

The researchers caution that the maintenance period lasted only four weeks.

Longer studies are needed to determine whether once- or twice-weekly exercise can preserve improvements over several months or years.

Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness, where she was also a group fitness instructor, she trained clients of all ages and abilities for fat loss and maintaining it, muscle and strength building, fitness, and improved cardiovascular and overall health. 

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