Effect of 4 weeks of aerobic or resistance exercise training on arterial stiffness, blood flow and blood pressure in pre- and stage-1 hypertensives

The benefits of aerobic exercise (AE) training on blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness are well established, but the effects of resistance training are less well delineated. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of resistance vs aerobic training on haemodynamics and arterial stiffness. Thirty pre- or stage-1 essential hypertensives (20 men and 10 women), not on any medications, were recruited (age: 48.2±1.3 years) and randomly assigned to 4 weeks of either resistance (RE) or AE training. Before and after training, BP, arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity (PWV)) and vasodilatory capacity (VC) were measured. Resting systolic BP (SBP) decreased following both training modes (SBP: RE, pre 136±2.9 vs post 132±3.4; AE, pre 141±3.8 vs post 136±3.4 mm Hg, P=0.005; diastolic BP: RE, pre 78±1.3 vs post 74±1.6; AE, pre 80±1.6 vs post 77±1.7 mm Hg, P=0.001). Central PWV increased (P=0.0001) following RE (11±0.9–12.7±0.9 m s−1) but decreased after AE (12.1±0.8–11.1±0.8 m s−1). Peripheral PWV also increased (P=0.013) following RE (RE, pre 11.5±0.8 vs post 12.5±0.7 m s−1) and decreased after AE (AE, pre 12.6±0.8 vs post 11.6±0.7 m s−1). The VC area under the curve (VCAUC) increased more with RE than that with AE (RE, pre 76±8.0 vs post 131.1±11.6; AE, pre 82.7±8.0 vs post 110.1±11.6 ml per min per s per 100 ml, P=0.001). Further, peak VC (VCpeak) increased more following resistance training compared to aerobic training (RE, pre 17±1.9 vs post 25.8±2.1; AE, pre 19.2±8.4 vs post 22.9±8.4 ml per min per s per 100 ml, P=0.005). Although both RE and AE training decreased BP, the change in pressure may be due to different mechanisms.