Tbh, I tried to lower my blood pressure without medicine for over 10 years. Nothing helped, as I wasn’t obese or inactive and always ate quite clean. After three days of starting with just a small daily dose of blood pressure meds my blood pressure has been perfect and has been stable that way for over 2 years. Sometimes taking medicine really is needed.
Beta blockers have an unfortunate side effect when you want to stop them..... Spiking blood pressure! They make it nearly impossible to come off of it as it's a serious and dangerous withdrawal symptom. Believe me, I tried.
honestly now, I bet there are no studies on "crushing some skulls" so I wouldn't dismiss that one so quickly. It does sound very relaxing and tension releasing. If you ever want research this, count me in as a hard working volunteer!
As a soon to be 78 year old who loves your videos and has been exercising regularly for decades, it appears that the wall squat is superior since the largest and strongest muscles are being stimulated. Now I occasionally do a similar exercise beneficial for those who also want to strengthen the upper body,. It's hanging from a horizontal bar with your elbows at 90 degrees. From having seen others in my gym attempt this, I would think that this would be a great exercise. I'm aware that most people would have difficulty doing this for 1-2 minutes, though!
I love isometrics. They are very much like HIIT, very intense, and great benefit for little time. Try even just isometric hand gripping. Get a hand gripper with a tension that you can only hold for 3-5 minutes (or an adjustable one). You'll start out relaxed walking around with it, then you'll bend you elbows, and eventually super tense your arms, then you'll crunch up your torso and grit your teeth (not too hard; you can damage them.) Your forearms will swell up. You're just bloating those veins. It's intense, and you can really see why it's good for blood pressure and vascular health. If you do it at the end of a resistance workout (weight lifting, elastic bands, etc.), then you won't have to spend time warming up, and you can circuit quickly from one move to another, planks, crabs, holding the grippers,... Very little time for tremendous benefit.
Oxford Uni Research from decades ago has shown morning exercise had the lesst impact on high morning blood pressure the time it's highest . Afternoon was most effective
When I was ski racing downhill races many years ago. Myself and my other buddies would do wall sitting on a regular basis. We would see how long we could hold it. Our knees used to start to wobble after a while much like when we were in a tuck racing. I found that about two thirds down the course this could start to happen. Certainly not nice traveling at 60-70 mph or faster. Time to start praying that the legs would hold on until the finish line and not crash & burn. Of course not an issue with BP in our early 20’s. Noy worried about dying from a heart attack or stroke but dying from hitting a tree.
Good exercise for camping as well ... if you follow my drift ... LOL. I saw Gil's original video and was amazed -- good that you covered it here as well ... cross-pollination never hurts with good advice!!
The question is: compared to what? I’ve not dove in myself, but the docs at barbell medicine suggested that isometrics ontop of a typical resistance training plan are likely not to do much.
The study by Edwards also breaks down the effectiveness of different exercise types by degree of hypertension - non, pre, and full hypertensive subjects. There is a chart that shows that almost any exercise type is effective to reduce the systolic BP of those with hypertension, with "combined training" beating out isometrics, but not by much, and not nearly as easy and convenient as isometrics. For pre and non hypertensive, the chart shows that isometrics are the clear winner.
I wish you had been one of my instructors when I was studying holistic nutrition, you make it so easy to understand and of course, your sense of humor adds so much more fun to topics that can be a bit mundane, shall I say 😊
Great video from two thoughtful creators--only questions I would have would be if there would be any additional benefits to holding the wall squat for 3 minutes or longer or if you would alternate between wall squats and handgrip exercises on alternate days. If you wanted to get really crazy, you could hold a wall squat while doing a handgrip exercise in one hand. You could go 2 minutes wall squat/left handgrip, 2 minutes rest, 2 minutes wall squat/right handgrip, 2 minutes rest, then repeat each, completing the standard protocol for both in the same 14 minutes.
Haha, I'd imagine there's a cap to how much blood pressure will drop, and I doubt we'll get studies on hand grip + wall squat simultaneously. So, it'll come down to self experimentation.
It would be interesting to know the magnitude of the effect other forms of exercise had on blood pressure. Also, what about combination training, such as wall squats and aerobic, but no other resistance training? Or resistance training and aerobic combined but with no isometric?
Having read a few of these papers, I am curious what the maximum benefit is. If you combine hand grip and wall squats and planks, do you gwt more than just doing wall squats? I got the impression that the mechanism was a reduction in resistance in the musculature that was being isometrically contracted, so it seems like it could help to combine a few.
For someone with an aneurysm, blood pressure control is super important. however I’ve seen advice not to do isometric exercises. Wall squats seem like something harmless, any idea why they would caution people with aneurysms against it?
This makes me feel better because that’s my favorite kind of exercise that i also never dread doing, even though I never had any problems with my blood pressure ever 😊
@ Nice! I’m on day 0 but I’ll go for 138 starting today. Yoga has had such a way in the past of making me feel subtly yet significantly better overall. Not just poses and flows but also pranayama or kriya yoga type stuff. Would be curious to hear about your routine 🤸♂️ Somewhat related, especially since it includes wall squats, but I’ve wanted to try out something called TRE, Trauma Release Exercise. Sounds legit as far as I can tell.
@@SuitedPup when I started doing yoga regularly, I didn’t really pay attention at first on what kind of practice I was doing, I was only focused on trying to build ‘momentum’ and consistency in doing yoga. But now, my current routine is at least 1 hour of yoga daily. Usually, I do 30 minutes of vinyasa flow in the morning, then I end the day with 30 minutes of hatha flow. When I have more time, I love doing an hour long straight power yoga classes where there are more isometric movements included. That, on top of hatha yoga in the evening, I can’t end my day without doing it ☺️. I have tried other types of yoga as well but I personally really prefer vinyasa, hatha and power yoga. I have seen a significant improvement in my flexibility, especially on my hips, inner thighs and hamstrings, good posture and overall strength by consistently doing them. I also noticed I stopped feeling soreness and pain in my traps and shoulders ever since.
@cutefunnywife YES 🙌 That's exactly it - built that momentum, Atomic Habits style, and now you’re a bonafide yogi. That's great about your strength and flexibility gains, and I'm especially glad to hear about that trap/shoulder pain relief. Really cool how you've found your sweet spot. I've always been big on fitness - strength, conditioning, the whole nine yards - but yoga humbles me in the best way. I'll deadlift hundreds of pounds no sweat... but then warrior pose has me shaking like I just drank 10 coffees. Power yoga is no joke. Your journey inspires me to start small with daily sun salutations. Any recommendations for getting back into it? And curious what other health and wellness practices you're passionate about... or anything else for that matter :)
1) If you do heavy lifting your bp raises so shockingly high you get used to it? Does weight training preserve bp but make it less relevant? 2. Is isometric exercise good for bp only because of the effect on breathing and breathing restriction?
I've tried various things like this for well over a decade. A company years ago made a handgrip trainer for this specific reason called Zona Plus. One thing I've seen in this literature is that people on anti-hypertensives often don't see an effect, even if they still have hypertension while on medication. One thing people may not realize is how uncomfortable an intense isometric contraction can be. Similar to why many people can't stand to hold a stretch for a minute, they may find two minutes of this to be very unpleasant. My major concern with this body of literature is how little long-term data exist. Is there adaptation? Is the effect size large initially but diminishes with time? I think that the studies on inhalation against resistance are more intriguing. The protocol is just as short or shorter, less uncomfortable, and has had profound effects on BP too. It can be done simple by inhaling through the thumb end of a closed fist.
Darn article is behind a paywall... I miss my university all access. The abstract shows that on average Aerobic exercise is still your best best for lowering blood pressure. The isometric has a bigger spread. Makes me almost want to go back into research to find out what mechanism causes wall sits to be so powerful
I dropped my systolic BP from 160s to 140s, I'm 69 and with no Rxs. Beet crystals for nitric oxide, magnesium fizz then a resting Asian deep squat, daily. The 💪
when I do the leg press, and exert myself to failure, I have to be careful standing up and walking too soon due to lightheadedness. I assume this is due to my blood pressure dropping. Is that the case?
Maybe I missed it, but was the studies based on people with elevated blood pressure? I can't imagine it having an effect on people with good blood pressure already, or can it?
I'll start holding a static squat position during number 2, that's anywhere from 2 to 5min, 2x a day. That way I'm working on blood pressure and intestine relief at the same time #multitasking
There's an article by one Stefan Bechtel in Prevention Magazine called A 60-Second Shortcut to Vitality (you can find it online). It describes (on page 4) a 6 second whole body contraction technique (three 6 second reps, with rest between reps, 3 times or more a day) for lowering blood pressure. I've seen several different isometric routines that are supposed to lower blood pressure, some with long holds and some with short holds but more repetition, so it seems likely that 7 - 10 second Bullworker holds would provide the same benefit.
I was on a ski team in high school and our coach, as part of our preseason training, made us do wall sits until we literally collapsed. I don’t really have fond memories of this exercise.
@@woodrobuda I finally went to physical therapy for my ouchy knees and they actually recommended wall squats for me. Turns out I was having muscle atrophy and needed to get stronger (I have several other exercises I do as well). If you have the ability, maybe check in with a doctor and see what your underlying issue is.
why limit to lower body? frontlever and plache should become first choice of exercise for everyone! i bet those who can do both have a healthy blood pressure almost always.
@ Would be super curious about this as well- especially the extent to which the improvements are from "local" adaptations in vessels within the contracting musculature versus "systemic/central" ones. IE do wall sits and hand grips improve the same thing or if you do both of them do the improvements combine?
Interesting if indeed true, but what is the mechanism behind this phenomenon? Is it lactic acid?... If we knew the mechanism we could achieve better results.
Holy crap! This could not have come at a better time for me. About three years ago I got myself off BP meds by diet and exercise. But I fall off my diet with some regularity and after raising my BP again, I force myself to get back on the wagon and usually within a few days I'm back down again. Due to it just being the holiday season, I am back on the wagon as of Dec30th. This time though, my BP has not gone down like it used to. I'm trying all sorts of things as fasting, eating only eggs and meat, only water and I make my own electrolyte drink so I got my salt to potassium ratio down to. (Learned that last year with Dr Berg and as soon as I started upping my potassium, it went down) It's now almost 20 days back on the diet and my BP has hardly gone down and I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it's taking so long. Did this last "off the wagon" session break something? Did I do so much damage that now I can't lower it naturally? This video showed me the one thing I was missing. Wall Squats. For years now I've been trying to exercise at home as I've got a physical disability (Charcot Marie Tooth disease) and I use a combination of VR goggles (you should really try "Beat Saber", fun and a cardio workout) and isometrics and band exercises, except this last time off the wagon, I also fell off the exercise thing too. Just last week I restarted the exercising and its slow and steady, but I'm back doing wall squats and stuff, but now I'll kick it up a notch as well. Thank a bunch for this video! I'm a little more at ease and WAY more motivated. You rock.
I read that it isn’t that blood pressure has risen in people, it’s just that the standard measurement has been lowered so often that it appears as if people’s blood pressure is now too high!?
As with all exercise, blood pressure increases while doing it. But the net effect is a reduction overall. The reason is that the temporary increase in blood pressure and then it's release keeps the arteries supple and able to dilate with higher volumes. It's the arteries becoming stiff and unable to dilate under pressure that causes chronic high blood pressure.
I believe zone 2 training would ne the best. This is the first time i have heard of isometric training as a remedy. Cut down on saturated fat is a passive way of lowering blood pressure.
Does "bang for your buck" refer to the 4th or 5th session having no value? If 3 times a week is 9 points that's 3 points per day. A 4th or 5th day at one point per day might individually be the second and third easiest interventions possible.
I have the opposite problem- low blood pressure. About 90/60. What can I do? My cardiologist couldn’t provide me any help, and actually said to *not* do cardio… which is apparently wrong
@ I‘m constantly tired except when I‘m laying down, because my brain doesn’t get enough blood. My heart then tries to compensate by increasing the frequency/pulse. The main problem is literally that you are tired all the damn time
My wife sort of has this problem, but not as extreme as you. She craves salty food constantly and I am jealous of her because I have somewhat high BP and can't indulge in the same way.
I reemember when isometric exercise was cautioned against because it would lead to an increase in blood pressure, in fact this myth still prevails on some fitness channels.
@@Physionic as a yoga teacher and an enthusiast of BP lowering I will conduct my own study among my students using chair pose. Maybe we will twist a little bit but this information makes me want to explore.
imo, based on me. The best exercises to lower bp, is circuit training. Get on the bike for 10 minutes, increase resistance each minute or two, your legs will be pumped up when you are done, then go right through pull then push exercises, with no break in between. Example, pull downs, then should press, 15 to maybe 20 reps, then rowing exercise then chest press, go through your whole body and different angles, maybe 10 - 12 exercises. You're get a nice pump, working your muscles, blood veins, arteries, and capillaries. I'm in my 50s and got my bp to a healthy 20 year old level multiple times doing this lol
Sure, but that is incredibly inefficient and costly compared to the program outlined, not to mention the program outlined could easily be added to your routine
Tbh, I tried to lower my blood pressure without medicine for over 10 years. Nothing helped, as I wasn’t obese or inactive and always ate quite clean. After three days of starting with just a small daily dose of blood pressure meds my blood pressure has been perfect and has been stable that way for over 2 years. Sometimes taking medicine really is needed.
what was your bp number?
Did you do these exercises
How do you know your bp number wasn't right for you?
Beta blockers have an unfortunate side effect when you want to stop them..... Spiking blood pressure! They make it nearly impossible to come off of it as it's a serious and dangerous withdrawal symptom. Believe me, I tried.
Glad you got the Gil Carvalho collab, I'm a huge fan of both of you
honestly now, I bet there are no studies on "crushing some skulls" so I wouldn't dismiss that one so quickly. It does sound very relaxing and tension releasing. If you ever want research this, count me in as a hard working volunteer!
😛
Why would you volunteer to have your skull crushed? Just kidding
I think Ukraine is doing research
Fingers crossed I get the placebo 🤞
Watch the move The Chekist if you are interested.
Love your colabs with Dr gill. Both of you are very trustworthy. Thank you
Gil is awesome - I'm thrilled he's on RUclips
top 2 chans
As a soon to be 78 year old who loves your videos and has been exercising regularly for decades, it appears that the wall squat is superior since the largest and strongest muscles are being stimulated. Now I occasionally do a similar exercise beneficial for those who also want to strengthen the upper body,. It's hanging from a horizontal bar with your elbows at 90 degrees. From having seen others in my gym attempt this, I would think that this would be a great exercise. I'm aware that most people would have difficulty doing this for 1-2 minutes, though!
I love isometrics. They are very much like HIIT, very intense, and great benefit for little time. Try even just isometric hand gripping. Get a hand gripper with a tension that you can only hold for 3-5 minutes (or an adjustable one). You'll start out relaxed walking around with it, then you'll bend you elbows, and eventually super tense your arms, then you'll crunch up your torso and grit your teeth (not too hard; you can damage them.) Your forearms will swell up. You're just bloating those veins. It's intense, and you can really see why it's good for blood pressure and vascular health.
If you do it at the end of a resistance workout (weight lifting, elastic bands, etc.), then you won't have to spend time warming up, and you can circuit quickly from one move to another, planks, crabs, holding the grippers,... Very little time for tremendous benefit.
Don’t watch this presenter even once a week, but when I do, I’m always more informed. Glad I subscribed.
Oxford Uni Research from decades ago has shown morning exercise had the lesst impact on high morning blood pressure the time it's highest . Afternoon was most effective
When I was ski racing downhill races many years ago. Myself and my other buddies would do wall sitting on a regular basis. We would see how long we could hold it. Our knees used to start to wobble after a while much like when we were in a tuck racing. I found that about two thirds down the course this could start to happen. Certainly not nice traveling at 60-70 mph or faster. Time to start praying that the legs would hold on until the finish line and not crash & burn. Of course not an issue with BP in our early 20’s. Noy worried about dying from a heart attack or stroke but dying from hitting a tree.
dude the sitting rebellion towards the end there got me pumped, will add this to my routine thanks!
Would it work just as well to squat at 90 degrees but not against a wall?
Hadn't realised how painful wall squats could be 😄
I lasted one minute. Will build up to two. Thanks for this
Hey, 1 minute isn't bad :)
Ty. I will add this to my workout right away.
Good exercise for camping as well ... if you follow my drift ... LOL. I saw Gil's original video and was amazed -- good that you covered it here as well ... cross-pollination never hurts with good advice!!
i was doing the squats on my wall while watching the video lol .But this is very helpful with the running i do also.Thanks !
The concept of health in "The 23 Former Doctor Truths" book completely explains this. I wish I read it sooner
heard about it before
seems like a nice book
Thanks for sharing that
Scam
Smells of shameless sales pitch
Wow. Thank you for this. I’m a 66 year old man with slightly elevated BP. I’m going to do this!
Wish you all the best!
The question is: compared to what? I’ve not dove in myself, but the docs at barbell medicine suggested that isometrics ontop of a typical resistance training plan are likely not to do much.
I'd agree
Great video. Thx. Could you please look into the possibility of reviewing the studies associated with DMSO?
Yep, I am a classic example, my BP droopped over 20 points due to daily trekking!
I've been doing wall Squats and they may be simple but they sure aren't easy.
P.S. Please do something on IMST
What is the reason behind this exercise that makes it to lower blood pressure?
Impressive
Fascinating, thanks very much.
You are most welcome
The study by Edwards also breaks down the effectiveness of different exercise types by degree of hypertension - non, pre, and full hypertensive subjects. There is a chart that shows that almost any exercise type is effective to reduce the systolic BP of those with hypertension, with "combined training" beating out isometrics, but not by much, and not nearly as easy and convenient as isometrics. For pre and non hypertensive, the chart shows that isometrics are the clear winner.
Every video you make slaps bro thank you
Wow, thanks :) means a lot to me
I wish you had been one of my instructors when I was studying holistic nutrition, you make it so easy to understand and of course, your sense of humor adds so much more fun to topics that can be a bit mundane, shall I say 😊
Great info.
Great info on a simple, yet effective type of exercise
Great video from two thoughtful creators--only questions I would have would be if there would be any additional benefits to holding the wall squat for 3 minutes or longer or if you would alternate between wall squats and handgrip exercises on alternate days. If you wanted to get really crazy, you could hold a wall squat while doing a handgrip exercise in one hand. You could go 2 minutes wall squat/left handgrip, 2 minutes rest, 2 minutes wall squat/right handgrip, 2 minutes rest, then repeat each, completing the standard protocol for both in the same 14 minutes.
Haha, I'd imagine there's a cap to how much blood pressure will drop, and I doubt we'll get studies on hand grip + wall squat simultaneously. So, it'll come down to self experimentation.
Love the humor bro! Wall squats across America!!
sweet
gonna start doing it
It would be interesting to know the magnitude of the effect other forms of exercise had on blood pressure. Also, what about combination training, such as wall squats and aerobic, but no other resistance training? Or resistance training and aerobic combined but with no isometric?
Having read a few of these papers, I am curious what the maximum benefit is. If you combine hand grip and wall squats and planks, do you gwt more than just doing wall squats? I got the impression that the mechanism was a reduction in resistance in the musculature that was being isometrically contracted, so it seems like it could help to combine a few.
Grateful, thanks Nick!
For someone with an aneurysm, blood pressure control is super important. however I’ve seen advice not to do isometric exercises. Wall squats seem like something harmless, any idea why they would caution people with aneurysms against it?
Love this channel , hope to see dr berg or dr darren Schmidt on here one day
Another great video many thanks
What about just taking a break in a squatting position? Is that also an isometric position? Would it have the same effect as a wall squat?
Would adding more negatives and static holds within a weight lifting workout have similar effect?
😂 Love that mental image. I’ll do it, too! Thanks for covering this topic!
This makes me feel better because that’s my favorite kind of exercise that i also never dread doing, even though I never had any problems with my blood pressure ever 😊
Lots of yoga poses include something of an isometric squat as well 😊
@ true. a lot of vinyasa flows incorporates isometric exercise. i’ve also been doing daily yoga for 138 days now
@ Nice! I’m on day 0 but I’ll go for 138 starting today. Yoga has had such a way in the past of making me feel subtly yet significantly better overall. Not just poses and flows but also pranayama or kriya yoga type stuff. Would be curious to hear about your routine 🤸♂️
Somewhat related, especially since it includes wall squats, but I’ve wanted to try out something called TRE, Trauma Release Exercise. Sounds legit as far as I can tell.
@@SuitedPup when I started doing yoga regularly, I didn’t really pay attention at first on what kind of practice I was doing, I was only focused on trying to build ‘momentum’ and consistency in doing yoga. But now, my current routine is at least 1 hour of yoga daily. Usually, I do 30 minutes of vinyasa flow in the morning, then I end the day with 30 minutes of hatha flow. When I have more time, I love doing an hour long straight power yoga classes where there are more isometric movements included. That, on top of hatha yoga in the evening, I can’t end my day without doing it ☺️. I have tried other types of yoga as well but I personally really prefer vinyasa, hatha and power yoga. I have seen a significant improvement in my flexibility, especially on my hips, inner thighs and hamstrings, good posture and overall strength by consistently doing them. I also noticed I stopped feeling soreness and pain in my traps and shoulders ever since.
@cutefunnywife YES 🙌 That's exactly it - built that momentum, Atomic Habits style, and now you’re a bonafide yogi. That's great about your strength and flexibility gains, and I'm especially glad to hear about that trap/shoulder pain relief. Really cool how you've found your sweet spot.
I've always been big on fitness - strength, conditioning, the whole nine yards - but yoga humbles me in the best way. I'll deadlift hundreds of pounds no sweat... but then warrior pose has me shaking like I just drank 10 coffees. Power yoga is no joke. Your journey inspires me to start small with daily sun salutations.
Any recommendations for getting back into it? And curious what other health and wellness practices you're passionate about... or anything else for that matter :)
I'll have to get my Bullworker (isometric training device) out of the cupboard that I bought in the 70s.
Would the cardiac remodeling resemble that of weight lifters? Is that good to thicken the ventrical walls?
There is thickening in weight lifters, and yes, it's a positive (in that context - not always, like in congestive heart failure).
1) If you do heavy lifting your bp raises so shockingly high you get used to it? Does weight training preserve bp but make it less relevant?
2. Is isometric exercise good for bp only because of the effect on breathing and breathing restriction?
I've tried various things like this for well over a decade. A company years ago made a handgrip trainer for this specific reason called Zona Plus. One thing I've seen in this literature is that people on anti-hypertensives often don't see an effect, even if they still have hypertension while on medication.
One thing people may not realize is how uncomfortable an intense isometric contraction can be. Similar to why many people can't stand to hold a stretch for a minute, they may find two minutes of this to be very unpleasant.
My major concern with this body of literature is how little long-term data exist. Is there adaptation? Is the effect size large initially but diminishes with time?
I think that the studies on inhalation against resistance are more intriguing. The protocol is just as short or shorter, less uncomfortable, and has had profound effects on BP too. It can be done simple by inhaling through the thumb end of a closed fist.
Does this exercise lower blood pressure more/for a longer period of time the more you train with it?
Darn article is behind a paywall... I miss my university all access.
The abstract shows that on average Aerobic exercise is still your best best for lowering blood pressure. The isometric has a bigger spread.
Makes me almost want to go back into research to find out what mechanism causes wall sits to be so powerful
Thanks for this amazing video. Do you think exercises like farmers carry with kettlebells can be considered isometric?
There definitely is an isometric component to it, yea
@ Thank you for the reply :)
I dropped my systolic BP from 160s to 140s, I'm 69 and with no Rxs.
Beet crystals for nitric oxide, magnesium fizz then a resting Asian deep squat, daily. The 💪
Well done :)
What about planks and side planks?
Whaat about exercise for reducing resting heart rate?
Again, great information.
@Physionic please do the Chuck Norris diet, I want to cure cancer with my tears.
Weighted isometric body squats for near atmospheric bp.
You are too funny. Love your SEM photo.
10 points reduction in average sounds amazing, but will it have the same effect on otherwise mostly health and sporty people?
But should that be the only exercise one does ? Or do weight training and do cardio and just add the isometrics just to lower bp ?
when I do the leg press, and exert myself to failure, I have to be careful standing up and walking too soon due to lightheadedness. I assume this is due to my blood pressure dropping. Is that the case?
Wonder if slow dynamic squats where you never extend your legs fully would have the same effect
Maybe I missed it, but was the studies based on people with elevated blood pressure? I can't imagine it having an effect on people with good blood pressure already, or can it?
Wondering if 1 of these exercises would be considered a rep or a set.
I'll start holding a static squat position during number 2, that's anywhere from 2 to 5min, 2x a day. That way I'm working on blood pressure and intestine relief at the same time #multitasking
Do planks work?
yes.
Q: Do short duration isometric exercises (e.g 7-10 seconds, via Bullworker training) yield the blood pressure lowering effect?
There's an article by one Stefan Bechtel in Prevention Magazine called A 60-Second Shortcut to Vitality (you can find it online). It describes (on page 4) a 6 second whole body contraction technique (three 6 second reps, with rest between reps, 3 times or more a day) for lowering blood pressure. I've seen several different isometric routines that are supposed to lower blood pressure, some with long holds and some with short holds but more repetition, so it seems likely that 7 - 10 second Bullworker holds would provide the same benefit.
What, but how? that's amazing. I hate em but I guess I'm going to start doing more wall squats!
do the researchers speculate the mechanism that makes isometrics so good for improving BP?
I'll cover that in the future - working on it
I was on a ski team in high school and our coach, as part of our preseason training, made us do wall sits until we literally collapsed. I don’t really have fond memories of this exercise.
I heard planks are also good for lowering blood pressure. I think it was on Dr Michael Mosley’s last TV series before he died (RIP)
Yes planks are isometric.
what if you have "bad" knees? what isometric exercise is best?
Hand grip hold - I think Gil mentions it
@@woodrobuda I finally went to physical therapy for my ouchy knees and they actually recommended wall squats for me. Turns out I was having muscle atrophy and needed to get stronger (I have several other exercises I do as well). If you have the ability, maybe check in with a doctor and see what your underlying issue is.
It’s actually the butterfly stroke in swimming
why limit to lower body? frontlever and plache should become first choice of exercise for everyone! i bet those who can do both have a healthy blood pressure almost always.
Is there more data than just one study?
In fact, 269 more studies.
Do they know how it works?
Will be releasing separate content on that
@ Would be super curious about this as well- especially the extent to which the improvements are from "local" adaptations in vessels within the contracting musculature versus "systemic/central" ones. IE do wall sits and hand grips improve the same thing or if you do both of them do the improvements combine?
Is that a Bella Canvas shirt?
Back in the 1980s my French teacher used to make us do wall squats as punishment.
Little did they know you'd now live forever!!!
@@Physionic Oui... vraiment!
Interesting if indeed true, but what is the mechanism behind this phenomenon? Is it lactic acid?...
If we knew the mechanism we could achieve better results.
270 studies isn't enough for you?
Holy crap! This could not have come at a better time for me. About three years ago I got myself off BP meds by diet and exercise. But I fall off my diet with some regularity and after raising my BP again, I force myself to get back on the wagon and usually within a few days I'm back down again. Due to it just being the holiday season, I am back on the wagon as of Dec30th. This time though, my BP has not gone down like it used to. I'm trying all sorts of things as fasting, eating only eggs and meat, only water and I make my own electrolyte drink so I got my salt to potassium ratio down to. (Learned that last year with Dr Berg and as soon as I started upping my potassium, it went down) It's now almost 20 days back on the diet and my BP has hardly gone down and I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it's taking so long. Did this last "off the wagon" session break something? Did I do so much damage that now I can't lower it naturally? This video showed me the one thing I was missing. Wall Squats. For years now I've been trying to exercise at home as I've got a physical disability (Charcot Marie Tooth disease) and I use a combination of VR goggles (you should really try "Beat Saber", fun and a cardio workout) and isometrics and band exercises, except this last time off the wagon, I also fell off the exercise thing too. Just last week I restarted the exercising and its slow and steady, but I'm back doing wall squats and stuff, but now I'll kick it up a notch as well. Thank a bunch for this video! I'm a little more at ease and WAY more motivated. You rock.
Yes, I did try this today after leg day. No, I did not even make 30 seconds.
Cool, I suppose you could do horse stance and you wouldn't even need a wall or a tree
I read that it isn’t that blood pressure has risen in people, it’s just that the standard measurement has been lowered so often that it appears as if people’s blood pressure is now too high!?
I have a video releasing on that, actually
@ Thanks. Looking forward to it.
Funny, I’ve heard ‘experts’ advise against isometric exercises because of their dangerous effects on blood pressure!?!?!??
As with all exercise, blood pressure increases while doing it. But the net effect is a reduction overall.
The reason is that the temporary increase in blood pressure and then it's release keeps the arteries supple and able to dilate with higher volumes. It's the arteries becoming stiff and unable to dilate under pressure that causes chronic high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is not bad… chronically high blood pressure is.
I bet they didn't test widowmakers-20 rep squats!😊
If you don't train to failure,you don't get the full cardiovascular benefits.
No they didn’t :) that would be insane - I did it once and never again
Be careful Nic
You don't want dr gil
Overtaking you
On the comedy front.
What about yoga,thai chi, chi gong,energy healing?
I believe zone 2 training would ne the best. This is the first time i have heard of isometric training as a remedy. Cut down on saturated fat is a passive way of lowering blood pressure.
Does "bang for your buck" refer to the 4th or 5th session having no value? If 3 times a week is 9 points that's 3 points per day. A 4th or 5th day at one point per day might individually be the second and third easiest interventions possible.
Interesting. I'd like to pick your Physionic brain and ask, why does it work? (And how.)
Covering in a separate video :)
I have the opposite problem- low blood pressure. About 90/60. What can I do? My cardiologist couldn’t provide me any help, and actually said to *not* do cardio… which is apparently wrong
How does it impact you? Symptoms?
@ I‘m constantly tired except when I‘m laying down, because my brain doesn’t get enough blood. My heart then tries to compensate by increasing the frequency/pulse. The main problem is literally that you are tired all the damn time
Do you get enough salt? I take electrolytes in my water, and that helps.
My wife sort of has this problem, but not as extreme as you. She craves salty food constantly and I am jealous of her because I have somewhat high BP and can't indulge in the same way.
I had that until about age 45.
👍
I reemember when isometric exercise was cautioned against because it would lead to an increase in blood pressure, in fact this myth still prevails on some fitness channels.
I remember that, too, actually. There can be transient increases in BP, but the long term effect is as stated in the video. Good recall. :)
Would a horse squat count.
Probably
@@Physionic as a yoga teacher and an enthusiast of BP lowering I will conduct my own study among my students using chair pose. Maybe we will twist a little bit but this information makes me want to explore.
We used to call these iron eagles.
What? And I was waking up 4:50am to run 10k before work only to reduce my blood pressure somewhat.
I respect your dedication
if you can hold a 2 minute wall sit at 90 degrees you deserve it’s cure-all properties.
Especially if you can repeat that 4-5 more times. Easy in theory, but hard in practice
imo, based on me. The best exercises to lower bp, is circuit training. Get on the bike for 10 minutes, increase resistance each minute or two, your legs will be pumped up when you are done, then go right through pull then push exercises, with no break in between. Example, pull downs, then should press, 15 to maybe 20 reps, then rowing exercise then chest press, go through your whole body and different angles, maybe 10 - 12 exercises. You're get a nice pump, working your muscles, blood veins, arteries, and capillaries. I'm in my 50s and got my bp to a healthy 20 year old level multiple times doing this lol
Sure, but that is incredibly inefficient and costly compared to the program outlined, not to mention the program outlined could easily be added to your routine
Very funny
Glad you're cross-promoting with Dr. Gil.
Static squat in the bushes?
I doubt they are trying to lower their blood pressure 😅
😂
For any other normies out there, isometric exercise is nerd speak for static hold