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Stretching is Superior to Brisk Walking for Reducing Blood Pressure in People With High-Normal Blood Pressure or Stage 1 Hypertension: A Randomized Crossover Trial.
Randomized crossover trial in 40 adults with high-normal BP or stage 1 hypertension: 8 weeks of supervised stretching (30 min/day, 5 days/week) produced greater reductions than brisk walking for several sitting, supine, and nighttime diastolic BP measures and mean arterial pressure (P<0.05 for reported contrasts).
Design
- Randomized crossover; 40 adults (mean ~61.6 y) with high-normal BP or stage 1 hypertension (130/85–159/99 mmHg)
- Arms: stretching vs brisk walking; 30 min/day, 5 d/week, 8 weeks each with appropriate washout/crossover structure per trial protocol
BP outcomes (abstract)
- Stretching showed greater reductions than walking (P < .05) for sitting SBP, supine DBP, nighttime DBP, and sitting mean arterial pressure in the abstract-reported primary contrasts
Evidence hygiene
- n = 40 crossover—promising mechanistic / pilot tier for stretching-as-BP hypothesis; replicate before policy translation.
Publication
Ko J, Deibert-Assaf M, Chilibeck PD. J Phys Act Health. 2021 Jan 1;18(1):21–28. PMID 33338988.
Outcomes
- Stretching program elicited greater BP reductions than brisk walking (P<0.05) for sitting systolic BP, supine diastolic BP, nighttime diastolic BP, and sitting mean arterial pressure after 8 weeks per abstract.