Fitness Dr.: Five Minutes of Exercise Could Help

Just five minutes of vigorous exercise per day might help lower blood pressure; a new study suggests.

An analysis of data from nearly 15,000 people revealed that running, biking, climbing stairs or brisk walking for just those few minutes can have a positive effect on blood pressure. Increasing activity up to 20 minutes can reduce the risk of heart disease by a significant amount, according to the report published in Circulation.

Exercise is the most important factor favorably associated with blood pressure. People with high blood pressure have a higher risk for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the U.S. In 2022, high blood pressure was a primary or contributing cause of 685,875 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly half of all Americans have high blood pressure, which is defined as a systolic blood pressure (the upper number) of greater than 130 or a diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) greater than 80.

Adults should get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week, most guidelines recommend.

To look at how much of an effect exercise might have on blood pressure, researchers combined data from six earlier studies that required participants to wear movement trackers on their thighs 24 hours a day. The 14,761 participants had an average age of 54 and were almost evenly divided between male and female (53% women).

On average, participants spent seven hours a day sleeping, 10 hours in sedentary behaviors such as sitting, three hours standing, one hour slow-walking, one hour fast-walking and 16 minutes in vigorous exercise.

The researchers found that replacing any less active behavior with five minutes of exercise could lower systolic blood pressure by 0.68 points and diastolic blood pressure by 0.54 points. When exercise time was 15 minutes longer, the reduction was bigger.