Isometric exercise better than HIIT for Blood Pressure Management

Both Isometric exercise training (IET) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) are effective in the control of resting blood pressure, IET appears to be the superior method of exercise. HIIT, on the other hand, may have broader physiological advantages, such as lower resting heart rate, says an article published in British Journal of Sports Medicine on 15th December, 2021.

There are now various restrictions on the use of medications to lower blood pressure (BP), which has led to a rise in the use of non-pharmacological techniques. IET and high intensity interval training (HIIT) have recently been discovered to be effective types of exercise that result in considerable blood pressure decreases. However, information comparing the effectiveness of different modalities is still lacking. As a result, the goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to look at the individual and combined effects of IET and HIIT on blood pressure.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were used in this investigation. To acquire data on IET and HIIT for study, researchers carefully searched PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane library, and SPORT Discus. The research trials describing the effects of IET or HIIT on resting BP following a short-term intervention were eligible, as were randomized controlled trials published between 1 January 2000 and 1 September 2020. (2-12 weeks).

The key points of this study were as follow:

1. There were 1583 (672 IET and 911 HIIT) participants in 38 trials (18 IET and 20 HIIT), with 612 (268 IET and 344 HIIT) being controls.

2. IET resulted in considerably lower resting blood pressure than HIIT, with effect sizes of 8.50 mm Hg vs 2.86 mm Hg (Q=17.10, p0.001), 4.07 mm Hg vs 2.48 mm Hg (Q=4.71, p=0.03), and 6.46 mm Hg vs 3.15 mm Hg (Q=4.21, p=0.04), respectively.

3. HIIT, on the other hand, significantly lowered resting heart rate (3.17bpm versus 1.34bpm, Q=7.63, p=0.006).

In conclusion, in comparison to HIIT, IET resulted in higher reductions in resting systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure. HIIT, on the other hand, dramatically lowered resting heart rate compared to IET. Significant variability in all BP outcomes for both IET and HIIT hampered the current study. The use of a random-effects model, on the other hand, may have alleviated this. Finally, these findings show that both therapies are effective at lowering blood pressure.

Reference:

Edwards J, De Caux A, Donaldson J, Wiles J, O'Driscoll J. Isometric exercise versus high-intensity interval training for the management of blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2021 Dec 15:bjsports-2021-104642. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104642.