Mixed
Interrupting prolonged sitting with brief bouts of light-intensity walking or simple resistance activity significantly lowers systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with effects being more pronounced in individuals with hypertension or prehypertension.
If you have high blood pressure or are at risk, do not just sit for hours. Every 20-30 minutes, stand up and move for 2-3 minutes. You don't need to go for a walk; simple exercises like calf raises, half-squats, or gluteal squeezes done right at your desk work effectively to lower blood pressure. This is especially important if you are overweight or have hypertension, as the blood pressure-lowering effect is stronger in these groups.
Most studies... have observed significant systolic or diastolic BP-lowering effects when prolonged sitting time has been reduced or interrupted (mostly with walking breaks but also some with standing breaks), ranging from 1 to 16 mm Hg in magnitude.
Why this rating
Strong experimental evidence from pooled crossover trials and acute studies, though observational evidence is heterogeneous.
Source
Sitting Less and Moving More
Paddy C. Dempsey et al. · Hypertension · 2018
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