Long-term effects of Exercise on Blood Pressure

Here is a another great reason to start exercising. The Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) trial looked at 4,618 adults ages 18-30 years old at the start of the trial. The researchers reevaluated them after two, five, seven, ten, fifteen and twenty years. They found that people with the lowest physical activity had the greatest likelihood of developing high blood pressure at the end of the 20 year followup. The fascinating thing about the results is that even after adjusting for other risk factors (age, gender, cholesterol, diet, race, smoking), the correlation still held.
So there you have it, another excellent reason to start exercising today. What are you waitng for? Get up? Yes you!!!

Reference:
Carnethon MR, Evans NS, Church TS, et al. Joint Associations of Physical Activity and Aerobic Fitness on the Development of Incident Hypertension. Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults. Hypertension. 2010 Jun 1