Doing just 20 minutes of these types of exercise found to significantly boost heart health

Doing just 20 minutes of exercise a day can significantly boost heart health by lowering .

Scientists have identified the amount of exercise - such as climbing stairs, jogging on the spot or cycling to the shops - needed to have real benefits. But they warned people may need to add more vigorous activity than just slow walking to really see changes. An international study saw 15,000 wear activity trackers to explore the relationship between daily movement and blood pressure.

Author Dr Jo Blodgett, of University College London, said: "Our findings suggest that for most people exercise is key to reducing blood pressure, rather than less strenuous forms of movement such as walking. The good news is that, whatever your physical ability, it doesn't take long to have a positive effect on blood pressure. What's unique about our exercise variable is that it includes all exercise-like activities, from climbing the stairs to a short cycling errand, many of which can be integrated into daily routines.

"For those who don't do a lot of exercise, walking did still have some positive benefits for blood pressure. But if you want to change your blood pressure, putting more demand on the cardiovascular system through exercise will have the greatest effect."

The study found that an extra five minutes of daily exercise which raises the heart rate could lower blood pressure by a measurable amount. This was 0.68 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and by 0.54mmHg2 for diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Systolic is the "top number" in a blood pressure reading and represents pressure when the heart pushes blood out around the body. Diastolic is the "bottom number" and is the pressure when the heart rests between beats.

Researchers said that a 2mmHg reduction in SBP and a 1mmHg reduction in DPB is considered significant and equivalent to a 10% lower risk of heart disease. To achieve this people would need to do as little as 20 minutes more exercise for systolic, and 10 minutes extra exercise to achieve the diastolic measure.

The researchers said their findings, published in the journal Circulation, emphasise the importance of everyday activities that raise heart rate, such as cycling, climbing stairs or short bursts of running.

Co-author Prof Emmanuel Stamatakis, of the University of Sydney, said: “High blood pressure is one of the biggest health issues globally. The finding that doing as little as five extra minutes of exercise or vigorous incidental activities per day could be associated with measurably lower blood pressure readings emphasises how powerful short bouts of higher intensity movement could be for blood pressure management.”