5 minutes of exercise can help lower your blood pressure, new research suggests

Making time for a few minutes of exercise, like taking the stairs, can help reduce your blood pressure, research suggests.

Replacing a few minutes of sitting each day with a quick run or bike ride can reduce blood pressure and help stave off heart disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers from University College London and the University of Sydney analyzed activity tracker data from previous studies, which included 14,761 volunteers from the UK, Australia, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands.

On average, study participants spent 10 hours a day sitting or otherwise being sedentary and about 16 minutes a day doing exercises like cycling.

Using their own model to estimate how different activities impact blood pressure, they concluded that small changes could do a long way.

Swapping out five minutes of sedentary time per day with physical activity like biking or taking the stairs led to a decrease in blood pressure, they found.

Adding more activity helped to lower blood pressure even more: 10 to 20 minutes of exercise daily reduced blood pressure enough to lower heart disease risk by about 10%, according to the researchers’ estimates.

The findings, published November 6 in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, suggest that short bursts of higher-intensity exercise may be most effective at lowering blood pressure.

“For those who don’t do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure,” Jo Blodgett, first author of the study and research fellow at University College London, said in a press release. “But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect.”

A few minutes of high-intensity exercise may help you live longer

It’s not news that getting your heart rate up can pay dividends for your health. Previous research shows quick workouts can improve overall fitness and help prevent early death.

The latest study helps us better understand how exercise might be used most effectively to help people reduce the risk of serious health conditions, and what a meaningful daily dose might look like.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. It affects nearly a third of Americans, many of whom don’t realize they have it.

If you’re short on time, a quick run or bike ride at a higher heart rate could give you the most bang for your buck in terms of health benefits.

“The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise or vigorous incidental activities per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasizes how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management,” Emmanuel Stamatakis, joint senior author of the study and professor at the University of Sydney, said in a press release.

The researchers also noted that the growing popularity of wearables can be a great resources for people to use data such as their heart rate to exercise more effectively.

Walking and tai chi can also protect your heart health

While short, intense workouts may be efficient, there’s still good reason to find time for gentler exercise in your routine.

If you’re not ready to go for a run, walking can help prevent heart disease, and an extra 500 to 1000 steps per day can lower your risk.

Tai chi has also been found to lower blood pressure as effectively as cardio. Evidence suggests the slow, meditative movement is beneficial in part because it helps to reduce stress, another factor in maintaining a healthy blood pressure.

Whichever exercise you choose, an extra few minutes of movement in your daily routine can add up to major benefits over time.