Study reveals the most effective exercises for reducing blood pressure. It's well known that exercise improves blood pressure control, but it may be surprising to hear that the most often recommended type of exercise, aerobic exercise training, is not necessarily the most effective. A recent meta-analysis published July 25 online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that isometric exercise outperformed all other types of exercise in lowering blood pressure. The analysis included 270 randomized controlled trials involving 15,827 participants that examined the effect of different types of exercise, including aerobic exercise training, dynamic resistance training, combined training, high-intensity interval training, and isometric exercise training. All types lowered both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in hypertensive cohorts, however, isometric exercise training had the greatest effect (-8.24/-4 mmHg), followed by combined training (-6.04/-2.54 mmHg). The authors suggest that these findings guide new exercise recommendations for prevention and treatment of hypertension.