The Effect of a 4 Week Isometric Handgrip Training on Changes of Peripheral Resistance and Blood Pressure in Women Suffering from Hypertension

Abstract

Introduction: According to many studies, hypertension is considered as the second leading risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiac infarction after smoking The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of four weeks of Isometric Handgrip (IHG) Training on peripheral resistance and hypertension among hypertensive women. Methods: 14 middle aged women, aged 40 to 55 years old, were randomly selected. The training program included 4 sets of 2 minute IHG training with 1 minute resting between each period, performed 3 days a week for four weeks. Doppler ultrasound method was used to measure the vascular resistance. Data were analyzed using paired t-test. Results: According to the results, there was a significant difference between systolic blood pressure (p=0.006) and diastolic blood pressure (p=0.001) after 4 weeks of training. However, no significant difference was observed in vascular resistance (p=0.66). Conclusion: These results demonstrate that IHG training can reduce blood pressure in the hypertensive patients 24 hours after the last training session. It is also revealed that reduced blood pressure is not always associated with reduced vascular resistance and other influential factors may play a role in this regard