Isometric Exercise is the Most Effective Exercise for Blood Pressure Lowering

 

You heard that right – isometric exercise is superior to all other forms of exercise for lowering blood pressure!   This includes all forms of cardiovascular exercise and all other forms of strength training exercise.  Many studies have shown this including a large meta-analysis which showed that isometric exercise is as effective as  blood pressure drugs for lowering blood pressure.   

Isometric exercise compresses the blood vessels (particularly the veins which hold over 60% of your blood).  If you think of your blood vessels like a garden hose, think of what happens when you pull on both ends of a rubber hose – the inside diameter actually SHRINKS – and this means increased pressure is required to get the same amount of fluid/blood through the center.  However if you push both ends of the hose together towards the center (like isometric exercise) the diameter actually increases and you need less pressure to move the same amount of blood!

In addition, properly done isometric exercise has side benefits – not side effects like drugs!   For example – isometrics improve joint health, improves muscle imbalances, improve performance, are very safe, and super time efficient!

A simple routine done 3 times per week can provide big results.  Just doing the following three exercises 3 – 5 times per week holding each one for 30 – 90 seconds can be very effective:

Wall Sit Exercise

Plank Exercise

Side Plank Exercise

To learn how to do these simple exercises and more check out this short article with links to videos of each exercise:   https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/isometric-exercises#exercises-to-try or here:  https://redefiningstrength.com/isometrics/

Key focus: BREATH - do NOT hold your breath and as always check with your physician before starting any new exercise program.    People with severe uncontrolled high blood pressure should NOT perform isometric exercise.