title: Isolated and combined effects of aerobic and strength exercise on post-exercise blood pressure and cardiac vagal reactivation in normotensive men.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and cardiac vagal reactivation (VR) after an aerobic training session (ATS), a strength training session (STS), and a combined aerobic and strength training session (ASTS) in normotensive men. Eleven healthy men (age 26.8 ± 2.9 years, body mass index 24.3 ± 1.6 kg·m) with at least 6 months of strength and aerobic training experience performed an STS, an ATS, and an ASTS in a counterbalanced crossover design. Blood pressure and HR were measured at rest and at 15-minute intervals post-training for 1 hour. Vagal reactivation was measured during the first minute immediately post-exercise. After STS and ASTS, systolic BP (SBP) and mean arterial BP (MAP) remained significantly lower than at rest at all time intervals (p < 0.05). After ATS, SBP was significantly lower than at rest at 30 minutes and beyond (p < 0.01); however, no significant differences were observed for MAP. Post-training HR remained high after STS and ASTS at all intervals (p < 0.01). However, after ATS, the HR remained high only at the 15-minute post-exercise interval (p < 0.01). Vagal reactivation was significantly less pronounced after the first 30 seconds post-exercise (p < 0.01) in ASTS (531.3 ± 329.6 seconds) than in ATS (220.7 ± 88.5 seconds) and in STS (317.6 ± 158.5 seconds). The delta of the HR decrease at 60 seconds post-exercise was greater (p < 0.00) in ATS (33.4 ± 12.7 b·min) than in STS (14.1 ± 7.2 b·min) and in ASTS (11.4 ± 7.1 b·min). In conclusion, post-exercise BP reduction was independent of the type of exercise; however, HR remained significantly greater after combination of strength and aerobic exercise, implying a reduction in cardiac VR after this type of training. Therefore, strength and conditioning professionals may prescribe aerobic, strength, or a combination of aerobic and strength exercise to assist individuals concerned with BP control, thus allowing for variety in training while similarly impacting post-exercise SBP regardless of desired exercise modality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education, Center of Physical Education and Sport, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Brazil. robertosimao@ufrj.br
authors.forename: Roberto José
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Simão
authors.forename: Milene Granja
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Saccomani
authors.forename: Juliano
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casonatto
authors.forename: Jeffrey L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rhea
authors.forename: Marcos Doederlein
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Polito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055070:Resistance Training; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*