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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

#91
post #44

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…

Nitpick: In Tabata's research, "high intensity" meant 170% of VO2max - definitely not easier to do consistently, even if you can voluntarily sustain 170% VO2max. Popular "HIIT" methodology is only loosely inspired by it, and the mechanisms for their merits would be largely unrelated to that of the original Tabata protocol's benefits (which was about demonstrating a way for elite athletes to push anaerobic capacity at…

Walking up a flight of stairs briskly is way above VO2 max for the vast majority of people, yet doesn't feel "extreme"

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

#92
post #74
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to consider quality of life too. Maybe you only gain one minute, but you'll age much better with a habit of exercise and stretching.

your point gets made over and over and over, I get it, health nuts have a list of things that they think are healthy. My point, that there's a cost to all this that might not get repaid, is a fresh take that you never see unless you've read one of my other comments making the point.

> that might not get repaid

This is the part that we know is false. The benefits outweight the costs. But fine, suffer if you want.

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

#93
post #7

How much more evidence do we need, that exercise is good and any amount is better than none?

Well, I personally do not. I was about to be put in blood pressure medication. Then I started a gym, with a trainer. I noticed that, after the exercise, blood pressure would immediately drop and stay low for a few hours. Over time, the amount of time it spent lower than average increased, and it got lower and lower. It crossed 24h. Now? I can go to the gym Mon/Wed/Fri and it will remain low at all times. I did stop f…

Great that you have the time to do it. I just cycle the children to kindergarden and then to work everyday. I am lucky to fit in one evening of sports every week. Plus owning no car saves lot of money. I guess I am quite lucky.

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

#95
post #74
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to consider quality of life too. Maybe you only gain one minute, but you'll age much better with a habit of exercise and stretching.

your point gets made over and over and over, I get it, health nuts have a list of things that they think are healthy. My point, that there's a cost to all this that might not get repaid, is a fresh take that you never see unless you've read one of my other comments making the point.

This research exists. This study [1] suggests a 2.7 year increase in life expectancy. Doing some math, 5 minutes per day for 80 years is around 0.2 years.

So sure I might have gone fishing a bit to respond to a random HN comment but the data is out there and you have a brain.

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9794712/

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

#96

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…

[dead]

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

#97
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.

I don't deny that reducing overweight is very likely to improve your health, certainly for the obese.

However, high blood pressure and weight are not as simple as one might think.

My friend has had problems with blood pressure since his 40s, but he is not overweight at all and has never been. He exercises at least weekly.

I am 60, at least 15 kgs overweight for the last 20 years (not obese), but my blood pressure is very good. I have always excercised daily, often for 1 - 2 hours, but at low intensity. Nowadays even lower because I have knee problems. Probably lower weight would have helped with those.

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

#98

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…

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 pill, thank you for your business".

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

#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 week for 20 years now. Haven't had any heart or blood pressure issues since.

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

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HIIT is and feels awesome, but no way a sedentary person can start straight with that.

Why not? HIIT is based on that person's body. They will hit their bpm much faster than a trained person. I started with HIIT last year in august (2023),reaching 181 bpm max and averaging 176 (I'm 35). Now, 1.5 years later, I do the same exercise (with a lot more strength) and hit 156 bpm average, 176 max. If I halt for 10 seconds (phone ringing), my bpm plummets (150 or even 148) and it's hard to bring back. On top o…

Were you completely sedentary before starting?

And I mean, psychologically, the feeling of nearly dying would have been enough to scare me off any exercising had I started with that. Being able to push yourself physically, and enjoying it, is a skill that needs to be learned gradually for most people.

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