Effects of repeated yearly exposure to exercise-training on blood pressure and metabolic syndrome evolution

Objective:To study if repeated yearly training programs consolidate the transient blood pressure (BP) improvements of one exercise program into durable adaptations.Methods:Obese middle-age individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS) underwent high-intensity aerobic interval training during 16 weeks (November to mid-March) in 3 consecutive years [training group (TRAIN); N=23]. Evolution of MetS components was compared with a matched-group that remained sedentary [control group (CONT); N=26].Results:At the end of the first training program (0-4 months), TRAIN lowered systolic arterial pressure, blood glucose, waist circumference and MetS Z-score below CONT (-8.52.5mmHg; -19.92.6mg/dl; -3.8 +/- 0.1cm and -0.3 +/- 0.1, respectively, all P<0.05). With detraining (month 4-12) TRAIN adaptations relapsed to the levels of baseline (month 0) except for BP. A second exercise program (month 12-16) lowered blood glucose and waist circumference below CONT (-19.0 +/- 2.0mg/dl; -4.1 +/- 0.1cm). After detraining (month 16-24) BP, blood glucose and Z-score started below CONT values (-6.8 +/- 0.9mmHg; -24.6 +/- 2.5mg/dl and -0.4 +/- 0.05, respectively, all P<0.05) and those differences enlarged with the last training program (month 24-28). Ten-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk estimation increased only in CONT (8.6 +/- 1.1-10.1 +/- 1.3%; year 2-3; P<0.05).Conclusion:At least two consecutive years of 4-month aerobic interval training are required to chronically improve MetS (Z-score). The chronic effect is mediated by BP that does not fully return to pretraining values allowing a cumulative improvement. On the other hand, sedentarism in MetS patients during 3 years increases their predicted atherosclerotic diseases risk.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT03019796.