This 5-Minute Breath Practice Might Lower Blood Pressure As Much As Exercise

After just six weeks, those doing high-resistance IMST lowered the group’s systolic blood pressure by nine points on average, and after another six weeks without doing IMST, the benefits had not yet worn off.

Their “vascular endothelial function,” which allows the arteries to expand when necessary, also improved by 45%, as did levels of nitric oxide, which helps prevent plaque buildup in the arteries. Inflammatory and oxidative stress markers also lowered in the IMST group.

Most notably, these improvements were just as good, if not better, than the benefits seen with aerobic exercise and medication. As lead author and assistant research professor Daniel Craighead, Ph.D., says in a news release, “We found not only is [high resistance IMST] more time-efficient than traditional exercise programs, the benefits may be longer-lasting.”