Similar hypotensive responses to resistance exercise with and without blood flow restriction

Low intensity resistance exercise (RE) with blood flow restriction (BFR) has gained attention in the literature due to the beneficial effects on functional and morphological variables, similar to those observed during traditional RE without BFR, while the effects of BFR on post-exercise hypotension remain unclear. The aim of the present study was to compare the blood pressure (BP) response of trained normotensive individuals to RE with and without BFR. In this cross-over randomized trial, eight male subjects (23.8 ± 4 years, 74 ± 3 kg, 174 ± 4 cm) completed two exercise protocols: traditional RE (3 x 10 repetitions at 70% one-repetition maximum [1-RM]) and low intensity RE (3 x 15 repetitions at 20% 1-RM) with BFR. Blood pressure measurements were performed after 15 min of seated rest (0), immediately after and 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, 40 min, 50 min and 60 min after the experimental sessions. Similar hypotensive effects for systolic BP (SBP) were observed for both protocols (P 0.05) and no statistically significant difference for diastolic BP (P > 0.05). These results suggest that in normotensive trained individuals, both traditional RE and RE with BFR induce hypotension for SBP, which is important to prevent cardiovascular disturbances

Blood pressure response to resistance training in hypertensive and normotensive older women

Dahan da Cunha Nascimento,1,2 Cristiane Rocha da Silva,1 Renato Valduga,1,3 Bruno Saraiva,1 Ivo Vieira de Sousa Neto,4 Amilton Vieira,4 Silvana Schwerz Funghetto,4 Alessandro Oliveira Silva,5 Samuel da Cunha Oliveira,1 Guilherme Borges Pereira,1 Jefrey M Willardson,6 Jonato Prestes11Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Física, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil; 2Centro Universitário do Distrito Federal (UDF), Brasília, Brazil; 3Centro Universitário Unieuro, Brasília, Brazil; 4Universidade de Brasília (UNB), Brasília, Brazil; 5Centro Universitário de Brasília (UNICEUB), Brasília, Brazil; 6Health and Human Performance Department, Rocky Mountain College, Billings, MT, USAPurpose: The purpose of the present study was to identify the variability of blood pressure response to a 10-week resistance training (RT) program in hypertensive and normotensive elderly women.Participants and methods: Twenty-seven untrained hypertensive and 12 normotensive elderly women participated in the present study. A whole-body RT program was performed on two nonconsecutive days per week for 10 weeks. The responsiveness of resting systolic blood pressure (SBP) was determined based on the percent decline between the pre- and post-training time points T1 and T4. The term responders were used to describe subjects who exhibited a percent SBP decline ≥−2.58% and the term nonresponders for subjects who exhibited a percent SBP decline <−2.58%, respectively.Results: Both the responders and nonresponders in the hypertensive group presented significant changes in SBP (−7.83 ± 5.70 mmHg vs 3.78 ± 7.42 mmHg), respectively. Moreover, the responders and nonresponders in the normotensive group presented significant changes in SBP as well (−8.58 ± 5.52 mmHg vs 5.71 ± 3.84 mmHg).Conclusion: SBP presents a heterogeneous response to a controlled RT program in hypertensive and normotensive elderly women. A different modality of training and additional therapies should be used for nonresponders in order to decrease resting SBP.Keywords: resistance training, exercise, hypertension, responsiveness, elderly, obesit