Wall squats: fewer weekly sessions still keep part of blood pressure gains, trial finds

Cutting wall-squat training back to one or two sessions a week still preserved part of the drop in systolic blood pressure gained through more frequent exercise, at least over a four-week stretch, according to a randomised trial of 100 adults published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.

Volunteers who kept up three weekly sessions saw the largest benefit, with systolic readings ending 13.73 mmHg below their starting point. Those training twice a week averaged a 6.95 mmHg fall, while the once-weekly group recorded a 6.56 mmHg drop.

The trial recruited adults with an average age of 37.4, whose systolic pressure fell between 120 and 140 mmHg. None took part in structured exercise programmes on a regular basis, and none had ever been diagnosed with hypertension.

Of five randomly assigned groups, one served as the control. The other four followed the same home routine three times a week for four weeks: four wall-squat holds, each followed by a two-minute rest in a chair. From week five to week eight, these groups shifted to three, two, one or zero weekly sessions.

By the eighth week, the groups still doing one or two sessions showed significantly lower systolic and mean arterial pressure than the control group, though diastolic pressure showed no significant change. Only the three-session group held on to its gains in total peripheral resistance and heart rate variability. Participants who stopped training altogether saw their earlier improvements reverse, ending up statistically no different from the controls.

The study’s authors called lower-frequency training “a pragmatic option for individuals with limited time or adherence challenges.” They added that the maintenance phase covered only four weeks, and that longer follow-up, over months or years, is still needed.