THREE or four short, quick walks a day may offer a much better way to keep your blood pressure healthy than going to the gym, claims a study by Indiana University.
The study followed 20
men and women with prehypertension (heading towards high blood pressure but not there yet) and found that taking three or four brisk ten-minute walks dropped their blood pressure for 11 hours. Spending 40 minutes in the gym doing continuous exercise dropped their blood pressure by the same amount, but only for seven hours.
Up to two thirds of people aged 45 to 64 could have prehypertension, said a study last year by the US Government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Janet Wallace, the study’s lead researcher and a kinesiology professor, says in the Journal of Hypertension: “We’d no idea that short bouts might be better. They’re easier to fit in with your life, too.”