Mat Pilates Aids in Blood Pressure Control

While physical exercise has been used in treating hypertension, aka high blood pressure, few methods have proven beneficial in research settings. Researchers at Universidade Federal de Sao Paolo, in Brazil, wanted to evaluate whether Mat Pilates would offer reductions in blood pressure, as do some other resistance exercises. 

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In a research study published in International Journal of Cardiology (2015; 179, 262-68), researchers enrolled 44 hypertensive, middle-aged women being treated with medication for blood pressure. They were divided into a training group and a control group. The training group performed 60-minute mat pilates sessions twice a week for 16 weeks. The control group  maintained daily activities without exercise training.

The training group showed statistically significant improvements for the systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure in all moments evaluated (clinical, 24 hour, awake and asleep). The training group also showed improvements in height, waist and hip circumferences, flexibility, right and left hand strengths. There were no significant changes

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in the control group. Researchers concluded that hypertensive women using antihypertensive medications can benefit from mat pilates to reduce clinical and ambulatory blood pressure, supporting the recommendation of mat Pilates as a non-drug treatment for hypertension.

Take a Mat class with Any Body's Pilates and see the difference Pilates, small classes and individualized instruction can make in your workout, your body and your life.