A study has revealed an amazing benefit of a morning treadmill walk on blood pressure
If you struggle to hit the gym before work, there’s yet another good reason why you should. A new study has revealed that a 30-minute treadmill walk first thing can have a dramatic effect on your blood pressure.
Research from the American Heart Association found that both overweight or obese men and women (aged 50-80) who started their day with a walk had lower systolic blood pressure throughout the day. These effects were enhanced significantly for the women when they also took a three-minute walk break for every 30 minutes of sitting down.
‘Traditionally, the health effects of exercise and sedentary behaviour have been studied separately. We conducted this study because we wanted to know whether there is a combined effect of these behaviours on blood pressure,’ said Michael Wheeler, B.Sc., lead author of the study.
Systolic blood pressure is the first number when you have your blood pressure taken, and measures the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats.
‘For both men and women, the magnitude of reduction in average systolic blood pressure following exercise and breaks in sitting, approached what might be expected from antihypertensive medication in this population to reduce the risk of death from heart disease and stroke. However, this reduction was greater for women.’ said Wheeler.
