5 minutes of exercise and the effect on blood pressure
According to some research, even small increases in daily physical activity can help reduce blood pressure.
A 2024 studyTrusted Source evaluated data from 6 studies involving more than 14,000 people, with about 24% of those people on blood pressure medications. Wearable trackers recorded certain movement behaviors over 24-hour periods:
- sleep
- sedentary behavior
- standing
- “Slow walking,” defined as a cadence of less than 100 steps per minute
- fast walking, defined as a cadence of 100 steps or more per minute
- combined “exercise-like” activities
The researchers found that an extra 5 minutes of exercise-like activity each day lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
