The Journeyman: Isometric Exercises to Reduce Blood Pressure

Can simple Isometric hand grip exercises reduce blood pressure?
Too good to be true? What does the Science say?
Review paper
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
Review Paper 2
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
Link to hand Grip Dynamometer
www.amazon.co.uk/Camry-Digita...

[@reubenhowden3967]

I am a professor at UNC Charlotte in the USA. Isometric handgrip training and blood pressure is a major research theme of mine. We and others have published numerous times on the success of handgrip training in reducing blood pressure. Feel free to ask questions.

[@jakal1591]

What's the exercise shall we do? and how long before you can see a change?

[@reubenhowden3967]

@@jakal1591 I am sorry. I replied to this a couple of days, but I don't see it. We actually use the same handgrip device seen in the video. They are cheap and work fine. In most people, we see improvements in resting blood pressure after 6-8 weeks. Some people respond sooner and some later. A few years ago, we developed short instructional videos explaining how to perform this training. I hope they help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJbIg4yHf6d3bq8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqjblpyMe5eFjrs

[@therichieconway]

@@reubenhowden3967 wonderful, thanks!

[@BryceBarrows]

@@reubenhowden3967 the video is private

[@zombiewoof16]

Do you have evidence that the BP drop occurs throughout the arteries of the body, or might the effect be localized to the arteries of the arms, where BP is measured?

[@lmc4964]

giving this a go, joined a gym too over xmas so extra grip strength wont be a bad thing even if it doesnt work

[@CharlieSeymourJr]

Thanks so much for sharing this... I will start right away!

[@garylester8621]

I'm trying it. what's to lose, and if it works, totally awesome. I'm 73 and by blood pressure is getting higher.

[@Frankiarmz]

Thank you for this informative review !

[@elisafrye2115]

Thank you! 👏Excellent idea. And it’s been working for me for awhile. I don’t understand why some people have the need to respond negatively to something they know nothing about and haven’t even tried. 😱 ( PS...I grip 2 small washcloths rolled into a cylinder-handy, dirt cheap and effective ( And I’m getting nice biceps, too. 🥰😁)

[@kevindarroch7332]

This is really cool, I understand you made a simple device of a kind, costing little. Gentle on your hand. My Dad always had a hand held device with several, a few springs on it and he could change the number of springs. All the best

[@MadderPrinciple]

Great video - really interesting

[@JohnParavantis]

Actual reference to isometric exercices starts at 02:31

[@mongolmcphee7791]

How many days/weeks/ months does this need to be done for you to see a benefit?

[@billbimson2408]

Just bought a hand grip dynamometer £4.58 and an adjustable 10-40kg hand strengthener £4.99 from e-bay, both arriving in a few days. What have you got to lose?

[@chrisqx2]

Great video!

[@murman9088]

I think its the increased afterload stretches the aortic baroreceptors resulting in the pressure drop

[@fuzznutz7182]

How many sets do you do

[@stephenhardman6142]

As far as I can see, you only mention the apparent improvement in systolic blood pressure. Is there any data on this techniques effect on diastolic pressure, (which is said to be more significant in terms of morbidity?)

[@trevorjameson3213]

Yes, the study shows a drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The effective results of this exercise have been observed for decades in people who do work or play that involves a lot of isometric contractions. A common example is riding a dirt bike motorcycle regularly. It requires isometric gripping of the handlebar grips, over an extended period of time. It is well-established that people who regularly ride off-road motorcycles are more fit and have lower blood pressure than people who do not participate in this activity. Besides isometric gripping, the riding also involves a lot of movement of other muscles as well, which further contributes to lower blood pressure due to the cardio-vascular nature of the activity as a whole. That is just one example, but there are many others as well, and in all cases of activities involving isometric contractions, blood pressures are always lower than the general population who do not participate in such activities.

[@uhlqnu5024]

Love your video...and love the accent (g)

[@annehaughton3968]

I’m so keen for this to work thank you. How long does it usually take? I’m not sure what 30pc of my strength is?! Thank you again

[@safetybeachlife]

Buy a grip . Squeeze it as hard as you can for about 5-10 seconds. This will show your maximum. Now take 30% of that . Simples.

[@Mr_Archimedes]

Your video is super specific and bravo to you from Greece! Needed just a clarification: OK, when changing from right to left hand you wait for ~2min. But when you finish this "Right-wait-left hand set",...shouldn't we wait for another 2 min to start again with the next set? In your video you start it immediadely and i guess you just forgot to mention it. Thanks again for your very helpul video(s) :)

[@KenanTurkiye]

What I understand is a 2 min intervals are deemed appropriate between each squeeze and does not change when you change from hand to hand.

[@jennifermiller4]

@@KenanTurkiye how many sets per hand?

[@KenanTurkiye]

@@jennifermiller4 Hi Jennifer, well he doesn't specifically mention the set values, in the demonstration he does 2 sets per hand and a text pops up saying do it 3 times a week. But I would assume, considering that we are to use 30 percent of our grip strength for 2 minutes, it may be ok to do as many sets as needed to NOT BE able to grip for 2 minutes. So say if by the 4th (or any number of sets) it becomes hard to keep the 2 minute duration than that may be our set number. But in order to do this we may need a dynamometer to first establish our max grip strength and calculate 30 percent of it. For example if our max is say 42, we divide 42 by 100, the result 0.42 we multpily that by 30 and get the end result we should aim for. This can change in time as we get stronger so we need to readjuct our figures. There you go, a long-winded ''I don't know''. : ) Best wishes

[@jennifermiller4]

@@KenanTurkiye thanks for your quick reply and explanation. Makes more sense now. Thanks again!!

[@KenanTurkiye]

@@jennifermiller4 Glad if it made sense, thank you.

[@AliAhmed-se8pj]

Hi how IRT reduces BP????

[@robertclark2740]

best way to hold for 10 seconds. for al body workout.

[@marymary5494]

Interesting, thank you. 👌

[@Claymor621]

The long explanation of BP at the beginning is unnecessary, as he says we've heard it a million times. How do we use the cheaper handgrips? Can we use two at a time?

[@journeyman8774]

Claymor thanks again for the comments. Agree intro probably too long, working to make them more concise. Cheers

[@jdiritto701]

I'm likely overthinking this, but does anyone know if it matters how open/closed your hand is while squeezing?

[@AdventuresofaStartupFounder]

30% of your max strength

[@highbloodpressurebegone6677]

There's a device called the Zona Plus which is designed to help you do these exercises. It guides you through the process and monitors your grip for you so it makes sure you're doing the exercises effectively. It's not cheap - $599! - but you can get $50 off here, and you can try it for up to 90 days and return it if you don't like it or don't think it's working for you: highbloodpressurebegone.com/zona-plus-review/

[@mrtonylee]

It does the same as this $20 device, so are the beeps you get worth the extra $530, even with the discount?

[@joyrichards9261]

Is it ok to do this while your blood pressure is high Some sites say ,do not do isometrics if your pressure is high . I’ve been doing it for 3 times a week along with other things ,like breathing exercises

[@hambonerz]

Yes I have the same question and it's not answered anywhere here.

[@avdive1]

How many times it needs to be done on each hand ?

[@neon10ful]

minimum 2 times with each hand (2 min with 2 min2 wait) swap hands after each grip

[@lmc4964]

why does it work? why would a hand exercise help the heart doing its job around the whole body?

[@stevenguyen5059]

This is strange I have “high blood pressure “ but I workout a lot strong etc also I have a dynamometer reading at 133 /60kg strength so my grip is pretty strong also already do grip workouts so I don’t see how this even correlates to our blood pressure 😂

[@mongolmcphee7791]

I did this religiously for over a month. No improvement. I suspect diet and exercise are the only way forward and everything else is nonsense.

[@hambonerz]

Don't all isometrics cause an immediate blood pressure spike that can be dangerous for those with high blood pressure?

[@We_Deliver_All]

I just found this after listening to a podcast today. You are right the exercise causes your blood pressure to spike. As you keep doing the exercise your body recognises the strain and alters your arteries to make them more elastic which lowers your blood pressure

[@shiblukhan1736]

why wait 2 minute?

[@claymor8241]

I find it very difficult. My maximum grip seems to be about 46 kg (not always that high) in the right hand and I find it hard to hold 30% of that for 2 minutes. It starts to hurt the palm sometimes.

[@SAMARTHNAIKDHURE_]

2 min is way too long :o

[@johntittor2nd296]

Do the best you can , the more you do it the stronger you will be

[@inyegomontoya8261]

You might try padded cycling gloves to ease the palm discomfort.

[@reubenhowden3967]

You will improve with time. The 2 minute contractions might be quite important and so doing shorter contractions may not be as effective

[@bendonahower5325]

I am typically 'prehypertensive' and so have been learning about different approaches to achieve optimal BP. I recently learned about this and can't wait to try it out. Certain breathing exercises are helpful. I found breathing through a straw to be especially effective at reducing my BP. I have recently bought a IMT breather for 9 USD, which is essentially straw breathing on steroids.

[@bendonahower5325]

PS. I want to test these in conjunction with other approaches. For example, I'm going to look like a weirdo but if I can go on a walk, use my breather, and complete an isometric exercise routine over the course of the walk, that's a nice time savings. Clearly, I have higher than optimal BP because I'm a 'Type A' personality...

[@nunuland]

@@bendonahower5325 How did you get on? Any good? Thinking of same myself.

[@bendonahower5325]

@@nunuland not as dramatic as some of these claims but it makes a different. it's a cheap investment to try it out. i bought a tester very similar to the device in this video. i am going to buy something that's more like a squeeze ball but still has the pressure information. the device isn't very comfortable.

[@nunuland]

@@bendonahower5325Interesting. Yea will give it a go I think. Been looking at Isometric exercises in general too- seems to be the way to go. Thanks for your time in responding, cheers.

[@Claymor621]

I'm not a proponent of alternative therapies but if anyone other than a medical practitioner had discovered this effect the medical community would have laughed it off for years before even testing it. He actually sounds almost disappointed that it seems to work.

[@journeyman8774]

Claymor thanks for the comment. Yes quite right am only ever interested in the evidence as I hope cones through in the other videos.

[@vaughn257]

bro the first 2:30 minute-ish of this video raises blood pressure.

[@clifb.3521]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@dawstep]

Why only 3 times a week? Can't I do this every day?

[@ffxbellini]

Any vigorous exercise requires a muscle recovery period of a day. At the age that most people would take up this exercise, the prescribed frequency is probably adequate. If you have need for more, try every other day, maybe?

[@dawstep]

@@ffxbellini Thanks. I'll take that on board.

[@criticalthinker6011]

That was very interesting, Journeyman. It's been almost two years since this video came out and you started doing the hand grip exercise. What were the results? Have you heard of the Kiveloff full body isometric contraction? Dr. Kiveloff had excellent results not only with his high blood pressure patients but with his diabetic patients as well. Isometrics are the bomb! Just google it and you can find the original article online for free.

[@ffxbellini]

While it not specifically stated here, I think the benefit here is from use of the "extremities" with the exercise, maybe with circulation force to the limits of the system, thereby maximizing the overall push?

[@verdun8481]

120/80 ????? Most Everyone has B.P them.

[@mongolmcphee7791]

My machine arrived today. I will report back!

[@fitnessidentitytraining3437]

Isometrics will do exactly the opposite, it builds up pressure and it's bad for a person that has high blood pressure.

[@neon10ful]

thanks for the comment Ricardo. if you can send the references to the published science cientific or medical literature would be happy to look.

[@abdullahalumran4653]

It only raise it temporarily while exercising, but will no affect your overall blood pressure. just don't hold up your breath while exercising.

[@Marckymarc71]

ANY exercise raises blood pressure WHILE YOU'RE DOING IT. The result is that it LOWERS your blood pressure when you're at rest. That's why EVERY doctor recommends exercise for BP even though it raises it temporarily. Geesh.