Exercise during Free Time Cuts Hypertension-Risk

Exercise can play an incredibly important role in an individual's daily health routine.

The benefits are simply astonishing. Whether it's weight control or improved mood, regular exercise can improve overall health, boost energy and promote better sleep patterns. Of course, it can be a lot of fun, too.

Unfortunately, with busy schedules--work, school and extracurricular activities, alike--statistics show that many neglect exercising all together and instead, spend it on relaxing. However, many health issues can result when individual's do not get enough exercise, including an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular issues.

In fact, a recent study looks at the difference between those who chose to exercise during their leisure time and how this lowered their risk of high blood pressure--also known as hypertension.

For the study, researchers examined data from 13 different studies that focused on how physical activity affects blood pressure. The combined data included 136,846 people living in the United States, Europe or East Asia. All of the individuals from the study had healthy blood pressure levels at the beginning of their examination. However, over 15,600 of the people ended up developing hypertension during the follow-up periods, which ranged from two to 45 years.

The researchers found that people who exercised more than four hours each week during leisure time showed a 19 percent reduced risk of hypertension compared to those who only exercised less than one hour a week.

People who exercised around one to three hours a week also dropped their risk of hypertension to 11 percent.

Though the connection between exercise and a healthier life is nothing new, study authors hope that these findings could possibly provide more motivation for people to exercise during their free time.

More information regarding this study can be found via the American Heart Association journal, Hypertension.