Tejal Somvanshi
If you have little time to exercise, a once- or twice-weekly routine may help keep blood pressure lower, at least for a while. A recent randomized trial tested isometric exercise, which means tensing a muscle without moving the joint, like a wall sit. Once or twice a week kept some blood pressure gains for eight weeks. Blood pressure in people who stopped training returned to about the control group's level.
The trial, published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine in September 2026, enrolled 100 adults. They had normal to high-normal blood pressure and did not exercise regularly. All four exercise groups first completed the same four-week home programme of wall-squat holds three times a week: four holds per session, with two minutes of seated rest between them. After that, the groups continued three, two or one time a week, or stopped. A control group did not exercise. The three-times-weekly group had the largest drop in systolic blood pressure, the top number, at eight weeks: 13.73 mmHg from the start. At eight weeks, the twice-weekly group's systolic pressure had fallen 6.95 mmHg, and the once-weekly group's had fallen 6.56 mmHg. Both groups still had lower systolic and mean arterial pressure than controls. Their diastolic readings no longer differed.
If you can fit in only one or two sessions a week, the trial suggests you may keep some blood pressure benefit in the short term. Participants who stopped training saw their readings return to levels not statistically different from the control group. If you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before you start, and keep taking any medicine you were prescribed.
Why Frequency Matters
Mean arterial pressure is the average pressure in your arteries over one heartbeat. The researchers wrote that lower frequency "may be sufficient to maintain blood pressure reductions over the short term," but that "higher frequencies are required to preserve these benefits." Participants who stopped training after an initial four-week period saw their blood pressure reverse. The follow-up lasted only eight weeks, and the group was small. Longer and larger trials are needed before anyone can say how long a weekly routine works.
All four exercise groups first completed the same four-week programme, so these results show how well gains held after that phase. They do not show what a weekly routine achieves from the start.
How much isometric exercise lowers blood pressure?
In this trial, three weekly sessions produced the largest drop in systolic pressure, 13.73 mmHg at eight weeks. Once or twice a week kept some reduction at eight weeks. Participants who stopped training returned to about control levels.
A randomized trial of 100 adults found that once- or twice-weekly isometric exercise kept some blood pressure gains for eight weeks. Participants who stopped training returned to about control levels. Larger, longer studies are needed to show how long a weekly routine holds results.
Related Karmactive coverage: this report and this earlier coverage. The relevant primary update is available from the official source.
