A new study found that just five minutes of vigorous exercise a day can help reduce blood pressure. This study was published in the journal Circulation. For the study, researchers analyzed nearly 15,000 pieces of data, which showed that running, biking, climbing stairs or taking a brisk walk for a few minutes can have a positive effect on one’s blood pressure levels.

The study also found that increasing activity by 20 minutes could help significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. “Exercise is the most important thing related to blood pressure,” Mark Hamer, a professor of sports and exercise medicine at University College London, said in a Zoom interview, according to a report by NBC News.

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

The average age of the 14,761 participants was 54 years and were divided almost equally between men and women (53% women). On average, participants spent seven hours per day sleeping, 10 hours in sedentary behavior such as sitting, three hours standing, one hour walking slowly, one hour walking fast and 16 minutes doing vigorous exercise.

The researchers found that replacing any less active behavior with five minutes of exercise could reduce systolic blood pressure by 0.68 points and diastolic blood pressure by 0.54 points. The reduction was greater when exercise time was 15 minutes longer.

The study said an estimated two-point improvement in systolic blood pressure was seen when 20 minutes of vigorous exercise was replaced by, for example, 21 minutes of sedentary time or 26 minutes of slow walking. Researchers say previous research had found that a two-point reduction in systolic blood pressure could reduce death from heart disease and stroke by 7% to 10%.

Joe Blodgett, PhD, a senior research fellow at UCL Surgery and Interventional Science and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health and first author, said in a statement: “Our findings show that, for most people, exercise is effective in reducing blood pressure. Is the key. ,

“The good news is that no matter your physical ability, it doesn’t take much to have a positive effect on blood pressure,” Blodgett said. But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more stress on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the biggest impact.

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