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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Anna Bawden

Planks and wall sits best exercise for lowering blood pressure, study says

A female athlete doing a plank exercise on an athletic field.
An athlete doing a plank exercise. Photograph: aurcajo001800/Aurora Photos/Getty Images/Aurora Creative

For most people the very thought of doing a plank raises the blood pressure. But a study suggests it is actually the most effective way to reduce it.

Researchers at Canterbury Christ Church and Leicester universities compared the efficacy of different forms of exercise on reducing blood pressure and found that “isometric exercises” – which involve engaging muscles without movement such as wall sits and planks – were almost twice as effective compared with the government recommended exercise guidelines.

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