How Much Can Strength Training Lower Blood Pressure?
The answer depends partly on where blood pressure starts.
People with hypertension generally experience larger reductions than people whose blood pressure is already normal.
In the large 2023 network meta-analysis:
aerobic exercise lowered blood pressure by about 4.5/2.5 mmHg
dynamic resistance training by about 4.6/3.0 mmHg
combined training by about 6.0/2.5 mmHg
Isometric resistance exercises produced even larger reductions in that analysis, around 8.2/4.0 mmHg.
However, those numbers should not be interpreted as a competition between exercise types.
A 2025 meta-analysis including 84 randomized trials in people with hypertension found no statistically significant difference in blood pressure reduction between aerobic, dynamic resistance, isometric resistance, and combined exercise.
The practical message is simpler:
Both cardio and strength training can contribute meaningfully to blood-pressure control.
Why Can Lifting Lower Blood Pressure If It Raises It During Exercise?
Blood pressure can rise substantially during a heavy set of resistance exercise.
That acute response is normal.
The cardiovascular system must generate enough pressure to deliver blood while muscles are producing force.
But repeated training creates longer-term adaptations.
Resistance training may improve:
endothelial function
blood-vessel dilation
arterial conductance
autonomic nervous-system regulation
insulin sensitivity
body composition
The American Heart Association's scientific statement on resistance exercise concludes that training can improve several cardiovascular risk factors, including resting blood pressure.
This is another example where an acute physiological response should not be confused with a chronic health effect.
Blood pressure rising during a squat does not mean regular squatting causes hypertension.
What Type of Strength Training Works?
The evidence does not require extreme lifting.
The 2025 AHA/ACC guideline describes dynamic resistance programs generally involving moderate loads, while recommending resistance training as part of an overall physical-activity program.
Traditional exercises can include movements such as:
squats or leg presses
rows
presses
resistance-machine exercises
appropriately scaled free-weight exercises
Isometric training where muscles contract without substantial joint movement has also attracted attention.
Handgrip training and wall squat protocols have produced notable reductions in some trials and meta-analyses.
But evidence that isometric exercise is definitively superior to conventional strength training remains less certain, particularly when ambulatory rather than office blood pressure is measured.
So there is no need to abandon normal resistance training in favor of a specialized blood-pressure workout.