Acute and Chronic Effects of Resistive Exercise on Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Elderly Women

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate postexercise hypotension (PEH) during a 4-month period of resistance training in hypertensive elderly women. Sixty-four women were divided into 2 groups: an experimental group (EG), which performed resistance training, and a control group (CG) that did not practice any exercise. The EG carried out the following steps: (a) 3 weeks of exercise adaptation and 1 repetition maximum (1RM) test (month 1); (b) resistance exercise at 60% 1RM (month 2); (c) resistance exercise at 70% 1RM (month 3); (d) resistance exercise at 80% 1RM (month 4); and (e) PEH analyses at the end of each month. Measurements of systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were calculated each 5 minutes during a 20-minute resting period before the sessions and each 15 minutes during 1 hour of post-session recovery. Analysis of covariance for repeated measures showed a reduction in SBP of about 14 mm Hg (p ≤ 0.05) and in DBP of 3.6 mm Hg (p ≤ 0.05) between resting values after the training period. In the EG group, SBP showed acute PEH during months 2 and 3, whereas DBP showed acute PEH during months 2 and 4. The CG did not show acute PEH or variations during the 4-month period. Postexercise hypotension occurrence and chronic reduction of resting blood pressure observed in the EG may have a protective effect on the cardiovascular system of the study participants.