Abstract
IntroductionThe chronic effects of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on the cardiovascular system remain unclear. This investigation tested to which degree a single sessions of RMT with or without added vibration, which could enhance peripheral blood flow and vascular response, or a 4-week RMT program could result in changes in pulse wave velocity (PWV), blood pressure (systolic, SBP; diastolic, DBP) and other markers of cardiovascular health.MethodsSixteen young and healthy participants (8 m/8f) performed 15 min of either continuous normocapnic hyperpnea (RMET), sprint-interval-type hyperpnea (RMSIT) or a control session (quiet sitting). Sessions were performed once with and once without passive vibration of the lower limbs. To assess training-induced adaptations, thirty-four young and healthy participants (17 m/17f) were measured before and after 4 weeks (three weekly sessions) of RMET (n = 13, 30-min sessions of normocapnic hyperpnea), RMSIT [n = 11, 6 × 1 min (1 min break) normocapnic hyperpnea with added resistance] or placebo (n = 10).ResultsSBP was elevated from baseline at 5 min after each RMT session, but returned to baseline levels after 15 min, whereas DBP was unchanged from baseline following RMT. Carotid-femoral PWV (PWVCF) was elevated at 5 and 15 min after RMT compared to baseline (main effect of time, P = 0.001), whereas no changes were seen for carotid-radial PWV (PWVCR) or the PWVCF/PWVCR ratio. Vibration had no effects in any of the interventions. Following the 4-week training period, no differences from the placebo group were seen for SBP (P = 0.686), DBP (P = 0.233), PWVCF (P = 0.844), PWVCR (P = 0.815) or the PWVCF/PWVCR ratio (P = 0.389).Discussion/ConclusionAlthough 15 min of RMT sessions elicited transient increases in PWVCF and SBP, no changes were detected following 4 weeks of either RMET or RMSIT. Adding passive vibration of the lower limbs during RMT sessions did not provide additional value to the session with regards to vascular responses.
Highlights
The chronic effects of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on the cardiovascular system remain unclear
Over the period of equivalent duration for an respiratory muscle sprint interval training (RMSIT) session, both inspiratory and expiratory mouth pressures were higher during RMSIT compared to respiratory muscle endurance training (RMET), which in turn was higher than CONTROL
SBP was elevated during RMET and RMSIT compared to CONTROL, it was not different between the two RMT modalities (P = 0.266), even when comparing only the periods of intense ventilation (P = 0.990)
Summary
The chronic effects of respiratory muscle training (RMT) on the cardiovascular system remain unclear This investigation tested to which degree a single sessions of RMT with or without added vibration, which could enhance peripheral blood flow and vascular response, or a 4-week RMT program could result in changes in pulse wave velocity (PWV), blood pressure (systolic, SBP; diastolic, DBP) and other markers of cardiovascular health. Much less is known about potential changes on arterial stiffness brought by RMT, with a single investigation suggesting increased arterial compliance following RMT, without measuring PWV (DeLucia et al, 2018) This is a topic that needs further clarification, as for example endurance and resistance training have been shown to decrease and increase arterial stiffness respectively (Collier et al, 2008), the latter possibly due to the pressure swings resulting from Valsalva maneuvers during intense muscle contractions (Heffernan et al, 2007b). 6 weeks of respiratory muscle endurance training (RMET) led to an increase in cardiac vagal tone (Hepburn et al, 2005), this finding that was not corroborated by a longer (8-week) intervention in young healthy women (Bisconti et al, 2018)
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