ACUTE BLOOD PRESSURE RESPONSES TO STATIC AND DYNAMIC EXERCISE: RACIAL COMPARISONS.

Abstract

1706 African Americans have a high incidence of hypertension. Furthermore, normotensive individuals who exhibit exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses to exercise are at risk for future hypertension. This study sought to determine if normotensive African Americans exhibited exaggerated BP responses to static exercise (SE) or dynamic exercise (DE) relative to Caucasian and Asian Americans. Thirty normotensive subjects participated from each of the three racial groups (15 males and 15 females). Subjects held 30% of maximal voluntary contraction (right knee extension) for 3 minutes, and BP was recorded during the third minute. On a separate occasion, subjects cycled for 6 minutes at a power equivalent to 70% of VO2 reserve, and BP was recorded during the sixth minute. SE produced large, significant increases in both systolic and diastolic BP (35 ± 1.5 and 29 ± 1.3 mmHg, respectively). DE produced large, significant increases in systolic BP (51± 1.6 mmHg) and moderate, yet significant increases in diastolic BP (8± 1.0 mmHg). There were no significant differences between racial groups in BP response to either SE or DE. However, during DE males had a higher systolic BP response than did females. In conclusion, African Americans who are normotensive at rest do not exhibit exaggerated BP responses to SE or DE relative to Caucasian or Asian Americans.