You don’t want to peak too early in life when it comes to exercise for heart health. According to recent research, you should maintain your level of exercise through middle age if you want to guard against high blood pressure as you get older.

However, a study involving over 5,000 participants in four US cities found that social factors can make this harder for some people to do than for others.

When the study’s findings were released in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in April 2021, epidemiologist Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and study author stated, “Teenagers and those in their early 20s may be physically active but these patterns change with age,”

Exercise has been shown in numerous studies to lower blood pressure, but according to the new research, “maintaining physical activity during young adulthood – at higher levels than previously recommended – may be particularly important” for preventing hypertension,” for preventing hypertension, according to Bibbins-Domingo.

Known colloquially as high blood pressure, hypertension is a dangerous illness that affects billions of people globally. It increases the risk of stroke and heart attacks, as well as dementia in later life.

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately every fifth woman and up to one in four men suffer from hypertension. However, high blood pressure is often referred to as the “silent killer” because most of its sufferers are unaware that they have it.

However, there are strategies to lower high blood pressure; in this study, exercise is the main strategy.

The study enrolled over 5,100 adults and followed their health over a three-decade period using physical examinations and questionnaires about their alcohol consumption, smoking status, and exercise routines.

Blood pressure was taken three times, one minute apart, at each clinical assessment. Participants were divided into four groups based on gender and race for the data analysis.

Between the ages of 18 and 40, levels of physical activity fell precipitously for both men and women, as well as for both racial groups. Over the next few decades, rates of hypertension increased and physical activity decreased.

The researchers conclude that young adulthood is a crucial time frame for implementing health promotion programs aimed at increasing exercise in order to prevent midlife hypertension.

Lead author Jason Nagata, a young adult medicine specialist at UCSF, stated, “Nearly half of our participants in young adulthood had suboptimal levels of physical activity, which was significantly associated with the onset of hypertension, indicating that we need to raise the minimum standard for physical activity.”

Studying individuals who had engaged in five hours a week of moderate exercise in their early adult years—double the amount currently advised for adults—the researchers discovered that this level of activity significantly reduced the risk of hypertension, particularly if the participants continued their exercise regimen until they were sixty years old.

“Achieving at least twice the current minimum adult [physical activity] guidelines may be more beneficial for the prevention of hypertension than simply meeting the minimum guidelines,” the authors of the paper stated.

But increasing weekly physical activity in the face of life-altering choices and mounting responsibilities is not simple.

“This might be especially the case after high school when opportunities for physical activity diminish as young adults transition to college, the workforce, and parenthood, and leisure time is eroded,” Nagata said.

There is also a sobering reality that the study revealed: the health trajectories of Black men and Black women differ significantly from those of White people. Around the age of forty, White men and women’s levels of physical activity peaked, while Black participants’ levels kept decreasing.

The study found that while White women had the lowest rates of hypertension through midlife, Black women outpaced White men in terms of rates by 45 years.

At the age of sixty, approximately half of White women and slightly less than 70% of White men had hypertension, while 80–90% of Black men and women did as well.

The research team attributed the well-known racial disparities to a variety of social and economic factors; while high school education was mentioned, these factors were not evaluated in this study.

“Although Black male youth may have high engagement in sports, socioeconomic factors, neighborhood environments, and work or family responsibilities may prevent continued engagement in physical activity through adulthood,” Nagata stated.