# Clinical trials that show squeezing a ball reduces blood pressure **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355 "2015-11-23T14:35:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/1 "2015-11-23T14:35:59Z")
I can find copious health sites that cite (heh) the fact that squeezing a ball reduces blood pressure, but my Google-fu is failing me, and I can’t actually find the trials/experiments that demonstrated this. Does anyone know the original article(s) that showed this to be the case? ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/2 "2015-11-24T13:45:03Z")
Did some further digging, and it turns out that using the term “isometric exercise” rather than “squeezing a ball” increases one’s success in Googling this. Ignorance self-fought! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/3 "2015-11-24T14:29:34Z")
BTW - It seems to me that squeezing the _wrong_ ball might actually _increase_ blood pressure - at least temporarily. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/4 "2015-11-24T14:56:00Z")
Dran - I was going to say that it probably depend on who is doing the squeezing. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/5 "2015-11-24T15:00:53Z")
The first time I read the title, the idea of a non-biological ball didn’t even enter my mind. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/6 "2015-11-24T15:34:37Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > BTW - It seems to me that squeezing the _wrong_ ball might actually _increase_ blood pressure - at least temporarily. 😛 LOL! Now, the kernel of truth to your little jape is that one review article I read said that there was concern that isometric exercise may in fact acutely raise the blood pressure of hypertensive patients to a potentially dangerous degree. But it would appear that those concerns have been alleviated, and that modest chronic decreases have been observed. So on the dope, even smart-ass comments can lead to insights! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinical-trials-that-show-squeezing-a-ball-reduces-blood-pressure/738355/7 "2015-11-24T15:41:31Z")
I _am_ a smart ass, and don’t you forget it! 😃