title: The effect of different doses of aerobic exercise training on exercise blood pressure in overweight and obese postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Abnormally elevated exercise blood pressure is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Aerobic exercise training has been shown to reduce exercise blood pressure. However, it is unknown whether these improvements occur in a dose-dependent manner. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of different doses of aerobic exercise training on exercise blood pressure in obese postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants (N = 404) were randomized to one of four groups--groups with 4, 8, or 12 kcal/kg of energy expenditure per week or a nonexercise control group--for 6 months. Exercise blood pressure was obtained during the 50-watt stage of a cycle ergometer maximal exercise test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure at 50 watts in the 4 kcal/kg per week (-10.9 mm Hg, P < 0.001), 8 kcal/kg per week (-9.9 mm Hg, P = 0.022), and 12 kcal/kg per week (-13.7 mm Hg, P < 0.001) compared with control (-4.2 mm Hg). Only the highest exercise training dose significantly reduced diastolic blood pressure (-4.3 mm Hg, P = 0.033) compared with control. In addition, resting blood pressure was not altered after exercise training (P > 0.05) compared with control and was not associated with changes in exercise systolic (r = 0.09, P = 0.09) or diastolic (r = 0.10, P = 0.08) blood pressure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aerobic exercise training reduces exercise blood pressure and may be more modifiable than changes in resting blood pressure. A high dose of aerobic exercise is recommended to successfully reduce both exercise systolic and diastolic blood pressure and therefore may attenuate the cardiovascular disease risk associated with abnormally elevated exercise blood pressure.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Preventive Medicine, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Damon.Swift@pbrc.edu
authors.forename: Damon L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Swift
authors.forename: Conrad P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Earnest
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Katzmarzyk
authors.forename: Tuomo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rankinen
authors.forename: Steven N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Blair
authors.forename: Timothy S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Church
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D017698:Postmenopause; D016037:Single-Blind Method