According to the CDC, almost half of us have hypertension (high blood pressure), which means an awful lot of us are taking medications to lower our blood pressure (and only ¼ of us have our high blood pressure under control). You probably don’t need to be told that having high blood pressure puts you at risk for heart disease and stroke, leading causes of death in the United States. What you may not know, however, is that new research has identified certain types of muscle exercises as being particularly helpful in your efforts to lower your blood pressure.

According to a new study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, isometric exercises, which use static, contracted muscles to hold your body in one position, can help lower your blood pressure better than almost any other type of exercise. What are some examples of isometric exercise? A squat, particularly if your back is against a wall and your thighs are parallel to the ground (known as a wall sit), or a plank, which involves holding your body up on your toes and arms in a position parallel to the ground for a period of time. In this study, while cardio and other types of strength training were helpful in lowering blood pressure, the most significant drops resulted from wall sits and planks. Given that these sorts of exercises require no equipment and can be performed virtually anywhere, you may have no excuse for not adding this a few times a week to your current exercise routine (but check in with your doctor first). In fact, The New York Times just published an easy-to-follow, quick 14-minute workout involving a wall sit to help set you on the path to lower blood pressure. For some other inspirations to work these muscle poses into your regular exercise routine, take a look here. And for some variations of these exercises specifically intended for older beginners to get in the groove, watch here or here, or read here. 

While these short isometric exercises can really benefit your blood pressure, there’s new research that even shorter bursts of physical activity are now linked to lowering your risk of certain cancers. Published in JAMA Oncology, this new study out of Australia reports that just 4-5 minutes of vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA, which we’ve previously described)- really any type of activity that briefly puts you out of breath, like lugging some groceries or speeding up your staircase- can lower your risk for cancers already identified as connecting exercise to lower risk, including breast, colon and bladder cancer. Once again, an example of free physical activity, requiring no equipment, may be all you need to improve your health and lower your risk of certain cancers by as much as 32%. What have you got to lose, beyond your risk for cancer? To find out more about this study, grab your grocery bags and click here.