Four short walks better than one long in keeping BP at bay

Miia · Gold Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 389

Recent studies determined that patients with a so called prehypertension condition had more success in lowering their blood pressure with a few short exercise sessions than one long.

The study done by the Indiana University researchers was published in the September issue of the Journal of Hypertension. Prehyperension condition is a blood pressure that ranges between 120-139 mm Hg over 80-89 mm Hg. This condition inevitably leads to high blood pressure that raises risks of heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke and blindness.

Scientists decided to compare the effects of two different exercise methods in lowering the blood pressure of the 20 prehypertension patients. They were divided into two groups where one group had four 10-minute treadmill walking sessions per day and another group a single 40-minute session.

The results revealed that patients from the first group who had four shorter walks managed to keep their systolic blood pressure 11 hours and their diastolic for 10 while patients from a longer walk session kept their blood pressure low for only up to 7 hours.

It is thought that the reason of such effects lies in the fact that the balance of nerves that control the blood pressure’s response to daily demands is better acquired through a few shorter workouts than one longer.

Four short walks better than one long in keeping BP at bay

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