Walking, a cheap and low-impact exercise, has been shown to play a significant role in lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reducing the risk of developing hypertension.
High blood pressure (also called hypertension). That’s a condition that only others suffer from, right? Wrong.
Hypertension is extremely common. In fact, one in three adults in the UK suffer from it, and half of these are neither diagnosed nor receiving treatment. In terms of the impact on your health? It’s responsible for more than half of all strokes and heart attacks in the UK and is a risk factor for heart disease, kidney disease and vascular dementia. The issue? It may have no symptoms, the only reliable way of knowing you’re affected is by taking a blood pressure measurement.
There are several factors that can increase your risk of suffering from this condition:
- Age – older individuals are more likely to be impacted
- Family – in particular having close relatives with high blood pressure
- Ethnicity – those from a Black African, Black Caribbean or South Asian ethnic background are at higher risk
- Poor diet – especially a diet that’s high in salt
- Overweight – being overweight or obese is a major cause of hypertension
- Smoking – in all forms of tobacco, as well as second-hand smoke
- Drinking too much alcohol – especially drinking regularly
- Feeling stressed over a long period – short-term can cause temporary rises in BP, but long-term can lead to behavioural changes that can impact your overall health and wellbeing more widely
However, there is some good news. In most cases, developing high blood pressure is entirely preventable and, by following a healthy lifestyle – tweaking diet and exercise can be game-changers – your risk of developing this serious condition can be substantially reduced. While this article will focus on the benefits of walking as a low-cost and easy way to reduce your hypertension risk, the Hilo website contains a range of other articles that can also help, including following the DASH diet, the importance of sleep and quitting smoking.
The importance of exercise and heart health
When it comes to methods for reducing your risk of hypertension, doing more exercise is an excellent place to start. But don’t worry, doing more exercise’ doesn’t mean you have to start running a marathon daily. Adding small changes to your daily life – for example walking to the shops rather than driving, or taking the stairs at work rather than the lift – can all have a positive impact, reducing your risk of developing hypertension and ensuring that your heart stays healthy for as long as possible.
Walking: the unsung heart hero
Walking has time-and-again been shown to provide significant health benefits, while being kind to the body, cheap and accessible to most. Selected studies include:
| Authors and year | Key take away | Longer summary |
| Paula and co-workers (2015) | Amending diet and increasing step-count leads to larger blood pressure reductions than amending diet alone. | In a 4-week randomized controlled clinical trial of 40 hypertensive patients with type 2 diabetes, larger reductions in blood pressure were seen when both the DASH diet and increased walking per day were undertaken, when compared to following a specialist diet for type 2 diabetes alone. |
| Hanson and co-workers (2015) | Walking groups can have more impact than just reducing your BP. | Forty-two studies involving 1843 participants were analysed. Walking groups were found to be effective, safe and had good adherence. Wide-ranging health benefits were identified, including reduction in blood pressure, lower resting heart rate, reduced body mass index (BMI), improvements in VO2 max, reduction in total cholesterol, and reduction in depression scores. |
| Mandini and co-workers (2018) | Those with the highest BP have the most to gain from increasing exercise levels. | A total of 529 subjects with systolic BP over 120 mmHg (elevated BP) were enrolled, with some being treated for hypertension. Study participants who completed 6 months of supervised walking (~300 minutes per week) saw a marked reduction in systolic BP. Individuals with higher baseline measurements saw the biggest decrease. |
| Lee and co-workers (2022) | Walking for 150 minutes at moderate intensity over a week has most benefit (broken down as 3–5 times, for 20–40 minutes) | Data from 73 trials, which included 5763 participants over 22 countries were considered. The average trial length was 15 weeks, with average walking time per week of 153 minutes. Evidence suggests that walking at a moderate intensity for 150 minutes a week reduces systolic blood pressure after 3 months, and in some cases reduces resting heart rate too. |
Walking: How much should I do? And what’s normal?
The average number of daily steps is dependent upon many variables, including one’s nationality and societal norms:
- In the UK in 2023, the average person spent 80 minutes per week travelling by walking, which accounted for 29% of all trips, over an average length of 0.7 miles.
- In the US, a short trip of between 5 and 10 minutes is considered a reasonable distance to walk, corresponding to around 0.25 and 0.50 miles. In 2009, the average distance walked per trip was 0.61 miles.
- On average Australians walk for at least ten minutes on 4.8 days per week, spending a median of 3.5 hours per week walking in 2023, although this has dropped to 3 hours per week in 2025.
- In Europe there are differences between countries. According to a survey by PureGym, Danes take the most daily steps (6,633), followed by Poland (6,504), Sweden (6,461) and the Netherlands (6,436) but at the bottom were Italy (5,169) and France (5,396).
Across the globe, the average number of steps taken is 5,833. This is actually less than the widely-accepted goal of 10,000 steps. And while 10,000 steps may seem arbitrary – and it kind of is: it was devised ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and 10,000 was chosen as the Japanese character for 10,000 resembles a person walking – it’s actually been shown that managing between 9 000 and 10 500 steps a day lowered mortality and cardiovascular incident risks.
However, assuming that it takes 10 minutes to walk 1,000 steps, achieving 10,000 steps a day can seem like a lot. But doing something is better than doing nothing, and even adding an extra 1,000 steps to your daily total will make a difference, with rewards being reduced blood pressure, potential weight loss and improved mental health.
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I’m convinced. How do I get my extra steps in?
As noted earlier, any movement is better than no movement at all. It may be that you start slowly, for example by walking while brushing your teeth, waiting for coffee to brew, or food to heat up. This may not sound like much, but it will make a difference. And if you have mobility issues, the main goal is that you do some form of movement, however you need to adapt it.
Once you’re ready to progress to longer walks, how you go about getting your extra steps is a personal choice, and one size doesn’t fit all. There are a few ways, including:
- Walking groups: Ramblers is a walking group run by volunteers with groups all across the UK. Or, checking Facebook or Google for other like-minded groups, for example parents with children, or those with local town or village groups, are a great place to start.
- Walk rather than drive to school or the shops. While walking to the shops isn’t always an option – especially if you’re planning on doing the large weekly shop – walking down if you just want something small is a great place to start.
- Walking on your lunch break, even if it’s just for 20 minutes (which could be 2000 steps) is another great way to start a walking habit. And walking after you eat has been shown to boost mental health and productivity, as well as aid weight loss and digestion.
To reap the maximum benefits of walking on cardiovascular health, combination with a diet, such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, has been shown to give the most gains. In fact, when participants with type 2 diabetes and uncontrolled BP took part in a 4-week randomised control trial, those who followed the DASH diet and increased their walking saw bigger blood pressure reductions than those who only dieted.
How Hilo can help
Wearing a Hilo Band and using the Hilo App can help on two fronts. Firstly, the Hilo Band now has an in-built pedometer that can log your daily step-count inside the Hilo App. Your steps can then be visualised alongside continuously monitored blood pressure, so any impact of exercise can be seen (remembering that usually to see any changes it takes around 3 months of the intervention).
Secondly, studies undertaken by Hilo have shown that monitoring blood pressure on a regular basis can lead to lifestyle changes that can positively impact blood pressure values, reducing risk of hypertension. Furthermore, studies in both the UK and Germany have unequivocally shown that using wearable devices, such as the Hilo Band, can have tangible impacts upon blood pressure. After six months of use, in both Germany and the UK, all age-groups show improvements in their systolic blood pressure measurements, with BP increases that are considered normal in later life being halted or even reversed, and larger reductions in systolic blood pressure noted for older users.
Finally, while walking more can help you take care of your heart health, there are also a range of other fringe benefits including reduced resting heart rate, reduced body fat, reduced cholesterol and increased VO2 max. Furthermore, it’s one of the cheapest exercises you can do, without requirement for any specialist equipment or specific locations.
This article is for educational purposes only and does not contain, nor replace, medical advice. Consult your physician before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle.
FAQs
What interventions are best to help me lower my blood pressure?
When it comes to blood pressure, there are several things you can do to help make sure that it stays within healthy levels or, if you have been diagnosed with hypertension, reduce it naturally. Examples include cutting the amount of sodium (in salt) in your diet, reducing caffeine intake, taking more regular exercise (such as walking), lowering alcohol intake, managing stress and ensuring good quality sleep. The Hilo website contains articles on all these topics, so if you are interested head over to have a look!
Can walking more help reduce my BP?
Yes! Walking is an excellent, cheap and low-impact way to reduce your blood pressure and the beauty of walking is that it can be easily adapted to your needs. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of walking, and there is a strong association between countries that take more steps in a day and longevity. So grab your trainers and get out there!
Does the Hilo Band and App offer the opportunity to measure my steps?
Yes! The Hilo Band and App passively record your step count – even when exercising. The data are then presented in an easy-to-interpret way, so you can see how your step count changes day-by-day, and if doing more exercise impacts on your BP. However, the Hilo Band will not take a BP measurement during exercise. To do this, the in-built accelerometer needs to detect that you’ve been sitting still for long enough, then it will take a measurement.
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