Aerobic exercise is known to reduce resting blood pressure as well as induce and acute post-exercise hypotensive response. Purpose: Determine the effect of repeated bouts of aquatic treadmill exercise on consecutive days in physically untrained, pre-hypertensive men. Methods: Nine male subjects (SBP: 132 ± 8 mmHg; DBP: 79 ± 8 mmHG; 33 ± 8 years; 183 ± 7 cm; 103 ± 31 kg; 32 ± 10% Fat; 36 ± 7 ml·kg-1·min-1) participated in the study. All subjects completed an acute aquatic treadmill exercise session (60% VO2max; 300 kcal) on two consecutive days. Prior to each exercise session and following 10 minutes of seated rest, blood pressure and heart rate were automatically taken every 3 minutes for a total of 3 measurements. Following each exercise session, blood pressure and heart rate were measured automatically every 10-minutes from 20 to 60 minutes post while subjects were seated at rest. Pre-exercise and post-exercise measures were averaged. A dependent sample t-test was performed to compare the average values between the first (ATM1) and second (ATM2) exercise sessions. Results: Data are displayed in table below. Both pre-exercise and post-exercise systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures were lower for ATM2. Conclusion: A single bout of ATM exercise resulted in reduced resting blood pressure 24-hours later. Furthermore, post-exercise blood pressure was lower following a second ATM exercise session. These data support both the efficacy of ATM exercise in regulating blood pressure and the cumulative benefit of repeated exercise bouts.
Pre-Exercise
Post-Exercise
SBP
DBP
MAP
HR
SBP
DBP
MAP
HR
ATM1
Avg
126
78
96
72
124
77
93
83
SD
11
7
7
11
12
7
8
10
ATM2
Avg
121
74
92
70
120
75
91
80
SD
11
7
7
11
10
8
7
13
T-Test
0.035
0.005
0.003
0.113
0.047
0.028
0.034
0.058
All values represent mean ± SD. p-values compare ATM1 vs. ATM
