Doctors have revised their recommendations downward.
In France, one third of adults have high blood pressure. At the annual ESC Cardiology Congress 2024, doctors met to define their new recommendations on high blood pressure, including diet, drug management, and recommended physical activity time. For patients with high blood pressure, “Physical activity and the fight against a sedentary lifestyle are essential non-drug measures” they recall.
Exercise lowers blood pressure, which in turn reduces the risk of stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death. It also helps you lose weight if you are overweight. Many studies, including a meta-analysis published in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicineshowed that regular physical activity could significantly reduce systolic blood pressure (the top number on the blood pressure monitor) and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number): by -3.84 mmHg and -2.58 mmHg respectively.
Physical activity must of course be adapted to the patient and of sufficient duration. Until now, doctors recommended doing at least 2.5 hours of moderate physical activity per week (which can be a lot when you are not very sporty). These recommendations “remain indicated, but 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity (1h15) spread over three days can also be carried out in addition to a low or moderate intensity activitye (slow walking, pétanque, gardening, daily life activities, editor’s note)”, the experts specify in their recommendations.
In concrete terms, this means doing 3 sessions of 25 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week (alternating between rest days and exercise days). By “vigorous physical activity” we mean endurance sports also known as “aerobic” such as fast walking, hill walking, running, cycling, swimming, tennis, aerobics, etc.
In case of uncontrolled high blood pressure at rest, vigorous sports should be practiced with caution. In all cases, it is advisable to seek the advice of your doctor before engaging in physical activity. In particular, he will assess the level of risk of cardiovascular disease to which you are exposed. Depending on this level, he may have you perform a stress test (a test that analyzes the activity of the heart during sustained physical exercise).