Health · Fitness & Nutrition · 23 hrs ago
Weekly Wall Squats Preserved Some Blood Pressure Gains in a Small Study
A study of 100 adults tested whether wall squats could help maintain lower blood pressure after an initial exercise program.
Participants had not been doing regular structured exercise, and none had hypertension or had taken blood pressure medication.
For four weeks, the exercise groups did three weekly sessions, each with four sustained wall-squat holds.
For the next four weeks, some kept that schedule, some exercised once or twice a week, and others stopped.
Those who exercised once or twice weekly retained some improvement in systolic pressure, the upper number in a blood pressure reading.
People who stopped lost that advantage, while those who continued three times a week had the largest drop.
The study lasted only eight weeks, so it does not show whether these effects continue longer or apply to people with hypertension.
A small study found that one or two weekly wall-squat sessions preserved some blood pressure improvements after adults completed an initial four-week exercise program.
Participants who continued exercising three times a week had the largest systolic blood pressure reduction.
Those who stopped exercising lost the measured advantage, with blood pressure no longer significantly different from the control group.
The study involved 100 adults who did not regularly do structured exercise and had no hypertension.
The findings were reported in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.
- Who
- Researchers studied 100 adults who did not regularly do structured exercise.
- What
- The study tested whether less frequent wall-squat sessions could preserve blood pressure improvements.
- When
- The program lasted eight weeks, with results assessed after four and eight weeks.
- Where
- Participants completed the exercise program at home.
- Why
- Researchers explored how much exercise was needed to maintain blood pressure gains.
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All exercise groups completed three weekly sessions of four wall-squat holds.
Groups continued three times weekly, reduced training to once or twice weekly, or stopped exercising.
Once- and twice-weekly groups retained some systolic and mean arterial pressure improvements, while the three-times-weekly group had the largest systolic reduction.
- Participants
- 100 adults
- Average age
- 37.4 years
- Initial program
- Three sessions a week for four weeks
- Reduced schedules
- One or two sessions a week for four weeks
- Systolic reduction, once-weekly group
- 6.56 mmHg from baseline
- Systolic reduction, three-times-weekly group
- 13.73 mmHg from baseline
Sources
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