Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Wall Sits Lower Blood Pressure

Wall Sits

The surprisingly simple exercise that can lower your blood pressure

This isometric exercise is found to lower blood pressure even better than some
cardio workouts

By Kelyn Soong Washington Post

The wall sit, a simple bodyweight exercise that can be done virtually anywhere, isn’t just for building strength. It can help your cardiovascular health, too.

A recent study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that isometric exercises, like wall sits (also known as wall squats), can help reduce blood pressure even more effectively than other forms of exercise, including aerobic activity, weight training or high-intensity interval workouts.

The research is good news for people who struggle to meet physical activity guidelines that recommend at least 150 minutes of weekly moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking or bicycling. The new analysis found that about eight minutes of isometric exercise, three times a week, can lead to a meaningful reduction in blood pressure.

This means holding a wall sit for two minutes and resting for two minutes. Repeat for a total of four wall sits with breaks in between. A single session, including rest, will take only 14 minutes.

On average, a regular isometric routine of wall sits lowered systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 10 mmHg and diastolic pressure by 5 mmHg, according to the research.

The study’s authors say the findings support development of new exercise guidelines that go beyond recommending aerobic exercise for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.

“Our main message is that actually engaging in exercise is fantastic and any exercise might reduce your blood pressure,” said Jamie O’Driscoll, the senior author of the study. “But if you’re an individual who is currently exercising to the guidelines and you’re still having a bit of difficulty reducing that blood pressure and you want to avoid going on medication, perhaps isometrics is an additional mode to complement the exercise you’re already doing.” kip to end of carousel

Benefits of isometric exercises

An isometric exercise refers to a static contraction in which the length of the muscle does not change, said Jamie Edwards, the first author of the study and a PhD researcher at Canterbury Christ Church University.

“Any kind of an exercise that is holding tension in any position which doesn’t involve dynamic movement is generally isometric exercise,” he said.

The research reviewed 270 randomized controlled trials that collectively studied 15,827 participants. The researchers looked at the blood pressure effects of three isometric exercises: squeezing a handgrip dynamometer, extending your legs against a fixed resistance and squatting with your back flat against the wall. (While planks are a popular example of isometric exercises, they were not included in the study.)

The researchers found that, overall, isometric exercise training was the most effective exercise for lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressures.
“From a clinician standpoint, these are very promising findings,” said Laura Richardson, a registered clinical exercise physiologist at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study.

“Being able to use isometric exercise as a therapeutic tool for those with hypertension is wonderful. I really think it’s a great way to get more individuals involved in being active.”

Isometric exercises effectively lower blood pressure because contracting a muscle and holding the position temporarily reduces blood flow to that muscle, O’Driscoll said. When you release that contraction, blood flow through the muscle tissue increases. This produces important signals that prompt blood vessels to relax more and creates less resistance to blood flow, which ultimately reduces blood pressure.

How to do a wall sit

To do a wall sit, find a wall that you can lean against. Take a couple of steps forward. Keep your feet hip width apart and slide your back down the wall until your knees are at about a 90-degree angle, as if you’re sitting in a chair, Richardson said.

The lower you squat, the more intense the workout. Be careful of how much you bend your knees in the beginning. Work your way down to 90 degrees. If you can’t get there, Richardson recommends sliding down based on your knee flexibility and holding steady until you feel lower-body muscle fatigue.

Isometric exercises like wall sits engage a lot of muscles, help build strength and are helpful for improving balance and range of motion, Richardson said.

“Primarily, you’re going to be using a lot of your leg muscles: your quadriceps, your glutes, your calves,” said Richardson, who is also a clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology. “If your back is flat against the wall, it’s going to help engage the abdominal muscles.”

FITNESS FOR EVERYBODY

Jayden Horton-Mims top-ranked PA sprinter found his sanctuary on the track

Imhotep’s Jayden Horton-Mims, the top-ranked sprinter in the state, found his sanctuary on the track

The junior, who holds the state’s top spots in the 200, 300, and 400-meters, learned from a mistake that could have cost him everything. He identified track as the way forward.

Jayden Horton-Mims, 16, of Germantown is a junior track standout at Imhotep Charter.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

by Aaron Carter Philadelphia Inquirer

Published Jan. 29, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

There was a time when Imhotep Charter’s Jayden Horton-Mims would finish a race head down, eyes low, seemingly uninterested in learning his time.

Living amid the chaos young people often endure in Philadelphia can have that effect.

Fortunately for the junior phenom, whose record-setting 300-meter performance raised eyebrows at last week’s Armory Officials Hall of Fame Invitational in New York, the track has become a place of refuge.

Last week, he didn’t just break a record that had stood for nearly 38 years, he also — in head-to-head competition — beat Virginia’s Quincy Wilson, whom many considered the No. 1 sprinter in the nation. It also was Horton-Mims’ first time competing in the 300.

Horton-Mims’ time of 32.92 seconds bested the state indoor record set by Central’s William Reed, who finished in 33.19 in 1986.

The performance also was the seventh-fastest time in high school history, according to MileSplit. Horton-Mims now holds the state’s top spot in the 200, 300, and 400 meters this season.

MileSplit ranks him No. 3 overall behind No. 1 Jelani Watkins of Jacobs Sports Academy in Texas and No. 2 Wilson of the Bullis School. He also has been invited to next month’s Millrose Games, which bills itself as “the world’s most prestigious indoor track and field competition.”

“This year, I was just hungry and I wanted the top spot,” Horton-Mims said during practice this week. “When I got on the line, I just took a deep breath and said, ‘I got to do this. I got to win this. I got to be the top dog, so everybody can know my name.’ ”

Now, with guidance from a compassionate coach, insight learned from a mistake that could have cost him everything, and the talent and work ethic to become No. 1, Horton-Mims has his name on the national track radar.

“He runs like he has a story to tell,” said Imhotep coach Anthony Bishop.

Later, he added: “To be honest, the sky is the limit for this kid.”

Jayden Horton-Mims warms up for practice with teammates inside Imhotep Charter on Jan. 24.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

Chosen path

In some ways, Horton-Mims’ journey has always been difficult. He was born a month premature and weighed only 4 pounds, 6 ounces.

“He was a little guy,” said his father, Odell Mims, in a phone interview. “It took him a while to develop, but once he did, it was off to the races.”

At first, Horton-Mims, now 16, often was a blur on the football field. He was on the Blackhawks squad that won the Pop Warner national championship in 2019.

He also played football his freshman year at Imhotep but has since focused strictly on track.

Ironically, his lack of focus stood out during his freshman year. Bishop, now in his fifth season at Imhotep, said he had seldom seen emotion from Horton-Mims before last week’s triumph.

“Before when he ran a race, he’d finish, and he wasn’t even checking the time,” said Bishop, who runs two group homes in Germantown. “He just walked away with his head down.”

Asked what occupied his mind back then, Horton-Mims said it was the fatal shootings of a few friends. He declined to go into specifics but said transcending the city’s violence is what motivates him now.

“Philly is like a war zone,” he said. “I’ve lost some friends to the streets because that’s the path they chose. I don’t want to choose that path. I want to make it somewhere instead of dying out here. That’s why I keep going.

“Because the streets won’t get you nowhere but jail or dead. The streets can’t get you far in life. Track can get me far in life.”

Back on track

That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s been smooth sailing since Horton-Mims identified track as the way forward.

A misstep in school during his sophomore year cost him the entire season. Since then, he says he has learned to pick and choose his battles more wisely.

Bishop said he got frequent phone calls from Horton-Mims during the summer about workouts and his new goal to be the best. Bishop, a former standout sprinter at Martin Luther King and then Lincoln University, said he liked what he heard.

“But I’m from the ‘show me’ state,” he joked. “You have to show me, not just tell me.

“Ever since that boy stepped foot on the track this season — he’s shown me.”

Colleges, Bishop said, have already started to notice. More could follow if Horton-Mims continues to improve.

Jayden Horton-Mims ran 32.92 in the 300-meter dash at the Armory Officials Hall of Fame Invitational, breaking the state record.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

“That’s the main thing I’m happy about,” said Odell Mims, who added that his son’s mother, Mona Horton, also is a key supporter.

“I never went to college,” he continued. “It’s easy to go left out here. The way these kids are dying out here, I’m just so proud that he’s kept out of trouble.”

Horton-Mims has also shown his younger brothers, Keshon, 14, and Yakeese, 11, another way forward.

“Because if they see me doing the right things,” he said, “they won’t go down the wrong path.

“So, every step I take has a purpose. Every step I take counts.”

Aaron Carter

I cover high school sports, focusing primarily on how the lives of young athletes intersect with life in and around Philadelphia.

Coach Jack Heath