RecruitingNAINTERVENTIONAL

Blood Pressure Following Isometric Exercise in Inactive Adults

This study is investigating how a specific kind of exercise, called isometric exercise, influences blood pressure. Isometric exercise involves tensing your muscles without moving, like pressing your hands together. We want to see if this type of exercise can help lower blood pressure in adults who aren't very active. Researchers will measure blood pressure and heart rate during and after exercise sessions over several weeks. They'll be looking for both immediate changes and longer-term improvements. The aim is to understand how this exercise works and if it could be a useful way to help manage or prevent high blood pressure.

At a glance

Status

Recruiting

Phase

Sponsor

Canterbury Christ Church University

Enrolment target

Start

21 Apr 2025

Estimated completion

01 Sep 2025

Hypertension Elevated Blood Pressure Sedentary Lifestlye

What is this study about?

This study is about a type of exercise called 'isometric exercise' and its impact on blood pressure. Isometric exercise is when you tighten your muscles without moving a part of your body – for example, pushing against a wall or holding a heavy bag still. We already have some clues that this kind of exercise might help lower blood pressure, but we don't fully understand how it works.

The main goal of this research is to observe how isometric exercise affects your heart and blood pressure, both immediately after you do it and over several weeks if you do it regularly. You would come to a lab for exercise sessions. There, you'd do specific leg exercises where you push against a machine without moving your leg much, which helps us measure your muscle strength. During these sessions, we'll keep an eye on your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle activity.

By gathering all this information, we hope to find out if isometric exercise is a good, natural way to help people who don't exercise much to manage or even prevent high blood pressure. This could offer a simple exercise approach for improving heart health.

Key takeaways

Investigating how 'still' muscle exercises affect blood pressure.
Aims to find a new way to help manage or prevent high blood pressure.
Involves supervised leg exercises in a lab setting.
No medication is involved; only exercise and measurements.
Looking at both short-term and long-term changes in blood pressure.

Who may be eligible?

To join this study, you need to be an adult aged 18 to 55 years old. You should also not be very active right now and not currently doing regular strength training or isometric exercises.

It's important that you can come to regular lab sessions for about four weeks and are able to follow instructions. We also need you to be willing to give your written consent to take part.

However, you can't join if you’re currently taking medication for high blood pressure, or if you have any serious heart, nerve, or bone/muscle problems that might make isometric exercise unsafe. You also can't participate if you're pregnant or planning to get pregnant during the study, or if you work in an exercise science field.

Could this study suit you?

Answer these quick questions to see if you may be eligible. This is a guide only — the research team makes the final call.

Are you between 18 and 55 years old?
Do you not regularly exercise or do strength training?
Do you *not* currently take blood pressure medication?
Do you *not* have any major heart or muscle conditions?
Are you able to attend sessions over about four weeks?

Answer every question to see your result.

What does participation involve?

If you decide to take part in this study, you would come to a research lab for several exercise sessions over a few weeks. In these sessions, you'll sit on a special machine and perform isometric leg exercises – which means you'll push against something without moving your leg, allowing us to measure your muscle effort. During these visits, we'll regularly check your blood pressure, heart rate, and muscle activity. There are no medications involved in this study. The total duration of your involvement, including all lab visits, will be approximately four weeks. We'll also take some measurements of your heart activity and muscle activity at different times to see how your body responds to the exercise.

Potential risks and benefits

Taking part might offer the benefit of learning more about how isometric exercise affects your blood pressure and potentially seeing some improvements in your own blood pressure. There are always some potential risks with exercise, such as muscle soreness or feeling a bit tired, but the exercises will be supervised. Your safety is our priority, and medical staff will be on hand. You are free to withdraw from the study at any time without giving a reason, and this will not affect any medical care you receive in the future.

Locations (1)

Some site locations are approximate. We're improving this — please verify with the trial team before travelling.

Canterbury Christ Church University
Verified postcode
Canterbury, United Kingdom· Recruiting

Common questions

What is isometric exercise?

Isometric exercise is when you tighten a muscle without actually moving the joint. Think of pushing hard against a wall; your muscle is working, but your body isn't moving.

How long will I need to be in the study?

The study will involve several visits to the lab over about a four-week period.

Will I have to take any medication?

No, this study does not involve taking any medication. It focuses purely on the effects of exercise.

What if I get tired during the exercise?

The exercise sessions will be supervised, and you can let the researchers know if you feel uncomfortable or tired at any point.

Will I find out my results?

The study aims to understand general trends, but you will be informed about your participation and the overall findings at the end of the study.

How to find out more

Sean Machak

s.machak2125@canterbury.ac.uk +447864658805 Official trial record

Always speak to your GP or specialist before deciding to take part in a study.