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Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

sydney.edu.au

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Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#131

Post by kd5bjo »

safety1st wrote: post #72
warner25 wrote: post #10

Tabata et al.[1] found in the mid-1990s that just 2-4 minutes of "high-intensity intermittent training may improve both anaerobic and aerobic energy supplying systems significantly." This was popularized as "Tabata training" 20+ years ago. I generally believe that brief bouts of exercise can be very beneficial, especially because they're easier to do consistently over the long-term vs. more time-consuming routines. F…

I think for the average person, looking too carefully at individual studies is failing to see the forest for the trees. Basically any time we do a study which asks "Is doing a bit more exercise better for you?" the answer is yes. Like doing a single walk around the block every week is better than doing none. Even five minutes of exercise is better than zero. But obviously these have much less positive impact than sev…

> There are diminishing returns but they don't really kick in until you're already pretty fit, they are only really a concern that athletes need to think about.

Unfortunately, it's people at both ends of the fitness curve that have to be careful about increased exercise frequency/intensity. On the less-fit side, the primary concern is accumulating minor injuries that reduce capacity for exercise even further leading into a downward spiral.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#132

Post by orthoxerox »

renegade-otter wrote: post #98
mcdeltat wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's true that doing any amount more exercise is beneficial to the average person, they may not necessarily know/feel it. As we so often see super fit people in the media, it's easy to think we need to do hours of exercise daily for any benefit. Easy to then think "what's the point? I'll never be super fit" and do nothing. Recinforcing the narrative (including publication of studies) that no, even a small amoun…

I do wonder how many people do not take care of the basics and instead go for anti-depressants and Ozempic. I get it if you tried everything, but how many do? When I stop compulsively eating and drinking, when I look for every opportunity to do something as an exercise, I snap out of my [self-diagnosed] depression and malaise in a few days, and feel great. The doctors rarely tell you to eat your salads. "Here is a pi…

> The doctors rarely tell you to eat your salads. "Here is a pill, thank you for your business".

That's because advice like this is useless. Everyone knows they should eat more vegetables, you need someone to guide you through habit formation, which is not what the doctors are for.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#133

Post by petercooper »

renegade-otter wrote: post #98
mcdeltat wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's true that doing any amount more exercise is beneficial to the average person, they may not necessarily know/feel it. As we so often see super fit people in the media, it's easy to think we need to do hours of exercise daily for any benefit. Easy to then think "what's the point? I'll never be super fit" and do nothing. Recinforcing the narrative (including publication of studies) that no, even a small amoun…

I do wonder how many people do not take care of the basics and instead go for anti-depressants and Ozempic. I get it if you tried everything, but how many do? When I stop compulsively eating and drinking, when I look for every opportunity to do something as an exercise, I snap out of my [self-diagnosed] depression and malaise in a few days, and feel great. The doctors rarely tell you to eat your salads. "Here is a pi…

I do wonder how many people do not take care of the basics and instead go for anti-depressants and Ozempic.

Bear in mind that for many people therapies like SSRIs and weight loss medications (or even counselling/therapy) can get them into the right mental and physical place to start doing more exercise and eat better.

It's easy to advise people to eat well and exercise, but it can be a bit like telling a miserable person with a migraine to smile more. Improve the underlying issue artifically, then they can have a better chance of starting the natural things. Doctors do need to do both, though, merely handing out medications without encouraging the next step is irresponsible IMO.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#134

Post by petercooper »

taeric wrote: post #22

This could get far more mileage with people by saying "activity" instead of "exercise." It is amazing how much people can get out of a simple walk around the house. Make it out and around the neighborhood, and you start getting absurdly good results.

Agreed. I've always struggled with intense structured exercise. Instead I walk quickly, park at the far end of lots, run up the stairs instead of the elevator, do some jumping jacks while waiting for the microwave, and lots of small things like that and it seems to work. You can get a lot of exercise minutes and increased heart rate out of doing routine activities with gusto. Admittedly, it's not so good for building muscle, though.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#135

Post by _xiaz »

kd5bjo wrote: post #131
safety1st wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think for the average person, looking too carefully at individual studies is failing to see the forest for the trees. Basically any time we do a study which asks "Is doing a bit more exercise better for you?" the answer is yes. Like doing a single walk around the block every week is better than doing none. Even five minutes of exercise is better than zero. But obviously these have much less positive impact than sev…

> There are diminishing returns but they don't really kick in until you're already pretty fit, they are only really a concern that athletes need to think about. Unfortunately, it's people at both ends of the fitness curve that have to be careful about increased exercise frequency/intensity. On the less-fit side, the primary concern is accumulating minor injuries that reduce capacity for exercise even further leading…

Thats why we recommend obese people to walk first, even if they think they would enjoy running.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#136

Post by hunter-gatherer »

petercooper wrote: post #133
renegade-otter wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do wonder how many people do not take care of the basics and instead go for anti-depressants and Ozempic. I get it if you tried everything, but how many do? When I stop compulsively eating and drinking, when I look for every opportunity to do something as an exercise, I snap out of my [self-diagnosed] depression and malaise in a few days, and feel great. The doctors rarely tell you to eat your salads. "Here is a pi…

I do wonder how many people do not take care of the basics and instead go for anti-depressants and Ozempic. Bear in mind that for many people therapies like SSRIs and weight loss medications (or even counselling/therapy) can get them into the right mental and physical place to start doing more exercise and eat better. It's easy to advise people to eat well and exercise, but it can be a bit like telling a miserable pe…

I've never suffered from a mental illness, so I'm genuinely curious; is exercise not ever used as a prescription for depression? Physical therapy is a thing, so it can be a prescription in some cases, no?

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#137

Post by criddell »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #19
n0id34 wrote: post #15

GASP, exercise is good!? No way. The hard part is finding time and having the motivation. Particularly the latter. There's constantly about 49 other things that feel like they need doing more than purposely exercising and wearing myself out even more than I'm already worn out.

Figure out how to get entertainment in the form of audio, like Youtube debates or audiobooks, so then exercise is simply multitasking.

I'd recommend trying without the entertainment too. Boredom can be good, letting your mind wander can be fun, or simply focusing on the current task and your body's experience can improve the experience.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#138

Post by da-x »

randunel wrote: post #112
antics9 wrote: post #99

I have a neighbour who's in his 60s. Blood pressure was of the charts while in his 40s. The guy was cycling to work everyday (and thought that was enough exercise) and was living a stressful family and work life. Doctor never prescribed any drugs but told him that he had to start exercising. Signed up for judo class. He couldn't believe the amount of exercise he got from the warm up alone. Been doing judo 3 days a we…

And here I was, thinking my daily cycling would be enough. It's not. I've been cycling all of my life, cycling daily and I'm still categorised as obese according to all weight to height ratios. My long term avg blood pressure varies with weight. It's lower when I lose weight, higher when I gain weight. I guess generalising health advice isn't necessarily useful. Health advice should be tailored to individuals, instea…

There's no way around getting having the nutrition part figured out too, meaning you need to stop eating like crazy. Saying this from a personal account, where I went down from 20% body fat to 13% in just 3 months and saw various health metrics improving.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#139

Post by hunter-gatherer »

gloflo wrote: post #119
yourusername wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dorian Yates (former mister Olympia) claimed he trained 4 times a week for 45 minutes while preparing for the contest. But very intense training.

He also sells training so there is reason to doubt anything he says about the topic.

Eh... I disagree. I've not bought his training but I have been actively fit since I was in highschool and have bought training before. There is value is getting regimens and techniques from really experienced athletes.

Edit: Also, I've been on a 4 day Bukgarian split before and had very good results. If you want proof there is a 30 minute routine that can kick your ass I recommend looking up Ryan Humiston's take on it.

Re: Five minutes of exercise a day could lower blood pressure

#140

Post by fouc »

technothrasher wrote: post #40
fouc wrote: post #26

FYI, the absolute fastest way to lower blood pressure is to lose weight if you are obese. Rule of thumb is that your systolic blood pressure will drop by 1 mmHg per 1 lb of weight loss, eventually slowing down to 1 mmHg per 2 lbs of weight loss as you get back down to more normal blood pressure range / weight range. Source: went from 160/110 to 120/90 in several months by dropping 60 lbs.

Yep, I found weight loss was pretty much the only thing that would drop my blood pressure. Though it didn't drop linearly like you're describing. From 215lb to 180lbs, it didn't really change much at all. Once I got down below 180lbs, it quickly dropped (from ~150/90 to ~120/80) and stayed there. When I slacked off my good eating habits and went back above 180lbs, blood pressure shot right back up to ~150/90. I'm bac…

Interesting! I wasn't really thinking it was linear, but your example does highlight the fact there's probably a few steady states that the body prefers to operate at.
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