title: [Muscular strength training does not increase human adults' arterial stiffness or improve body toning].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Determining the influence of three weekly strength training (ST) sessions, over a ten-week period, on arterial stiffness (AS) and taking the associated anthropometric measurements.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a before-and-after intervention trial, involving a sample of 17 individuals. Participants were adults from both genders aged 18 and 40 years-old who had been sedentary for at least three months previously. Anthropometric measurements were taken, together with pulse wave velocity (PWV) before and immediately after the experimental sessions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Independent variables (age and gender) were considered for determining their influence on final PWV and anthropometric measurements. Comparing initial PWV (mean=9.00) with final PWV (mean=9.00) for subjects involved in the proposed ST revealed no significant difference between them (p=0.469). Regarding anthropometric measurement, individuals' body fat (p<0.001) and body fat mass percentages (p<0.001) became significantly reduced, accompanied by an increase in lean mass (p<0.001). However, no changes were recorded regarding waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (p= 0.777), body mass (p=0.226) or body mass index (BMI) (p =0.212).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study's findings suggested that the proposed ST did not increase AS. Devotees of such type of training may therefore safely enjoy all its benefits without risk to the cardiovascular system. Further controlled and randomized research is needed to confirm these results.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brasil.
authors.forename: Carlos Ernani de Araujo
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Tinoco-Cabral
authors.affiliation: Instituto do Coração, Natal, Brasil.
authors.forename: Felipe E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Fernandes-Guerra
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brasil.
authors.forename: Leonel Mario
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Zugno
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte.
authors.forename: Suzet de Araujo
authors.initials: Sde A
authors.lastname: Tinoco-Cabral
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brasil.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dantas-Leite
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, jff@ceafbr.com.br.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fernandes Filho
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Odontologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brasil, limk@uol.com.br.
authors.forename: Kenio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Costa-Lima
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries; D001837:Body Weights and Measures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053580:Muscle Strength; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D055070:Resistance Training; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D055815:Young Adult