Having a firm hand grip says a lot about a person and can often make a strong first impression.
But turns out having strength in your hands does more than just portray a macho image and could help with both men and woman suffering with high blood pressure.
High blood pressure is a common condition and can be the precursor for serious and potentially life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks or stroke.
How can hand exercises help to lower your reading?
High blood pressure, sometimes referred to as hypertension, increases a person’s risk of having a stroke and usually increases as a problem with age.
Typical treatment and recommendations for those suffering with hypertension includes certain drugs such as beta blockers and a change in diet.
Exercise is also vital and in fact, for many years, doctors have known that increasing your strength in your hands could work just as well as medication.
This is where handgrip strength training comes in and could help reduce the dangers associated with high blood pressure.
Hand grips work aggressively on making your finger, palm and wrist muscles stronger.
Isometric hand training is a way to categorise exercises which recruit hand muscles and exert tension without actually lengthening or shortening the muscle.
In an isometric contraction, the muscle is engaged, but it’s not changing size.
What is isometric handgrip training?
In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, isometric handgrip home training to help lower blood pressure was investigated.
The research found that isometric handgrip training was superior to traditional endurance and strength training in lowering resting systolic blood pressure.
In fact, in only 20 weeks of handgrip training notable changes were evident related to blood pressure reading.
In another study with Canada’s McMaster University, participants performed 10 handgrip exercises three times a week for eight weeks, working at 30% of their maximal voluntary contraction.
Researchers found that the hand exercises helped significantly lower systolic blood pressure, which is the higher number in the blood pressure reading, and is when the heart pumps blood to the rest of the body.
Ultrasound measurements of the vessels also showed that one of the main arteries of the body became more flexible with these exercises and also less rigid.
More flexible vessels are a sign of healthy blood vessels.
“The results of this study indicate that isometric handgrip exercises improve resting systolic blood pressure,” wrote the researchers.
How to do isometric handgrip training
A resistance bar or band must be squeezed with one hand for two minutes.
It’s advised to then rest for two minutes and switch to the other hand, doing two sets for each hand.
To get the most effect from the exercise, you need to hold for the two minutes at 30% of your maximum effort.
