Breathing Workout Can Lower Blood Pressure

High-resistance inspiratory muscle training involves breathing through a handheld device to strengthen the diaphragm and other respiratory muscles. An experiment involving 36 middle-aged and older adults found that performing this form of training for five minutes a day for six weeks resulted in similar improvements in blood pressure as walking for 30 minutes a day or taking hypertension medications. Participants also experienced improvements in endothelial function and reduced inflammation. Journal of the American Heart Association, June 2021