High-intensity interval training improves acute plasma volume responses to exercise that is age dependent

Plasma volume (PV) is affected by several factors including age, physical training and, acutely, by exercise intensity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 6 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIT) on PV and blood pressure (BP) changes among sedentary individuals. Thirty subjects aged between 18 and 71 years [body mass index = 30.1(1.2) kg/m(2)] completed a 6-weeks HIT program. Anthropometric and fitness variables were obtained at pre- and post- HIT. PV variations during warm-up and after supramaximal cycling test (SCT) were calculated using two methods based on Hematocrit (Ht) and Hemoglobin (Hb) measures. After both the warm-up and SCT, PV decreased significantly among participants at pre- and at post-HIT (P<0.01). However, PV decreases were significantly greater at pre-HIT compared with post-HIT during warm-up and after SCT (P<0.01, respectively). In addition, at pre-HIT, a positive relationship was found between age and both PV variations at warm-up and after SCT (r(2) = 0.55 and r(2) = 0.46; P<0.01 respectively). However, no relationship was found during the post-HIT period. After SCT and after both visits, only body weight predicted 22% of PV variations. In the current study, a significant relationship was found between systolic and diastolic BP improvements and PV variations in post-HIT (r(2) = 0.54 and r(2) = 0.56, P<0.05, respectively). Our results suggest that HIT may improve PV values and reduce the effects of age on the decrease in PV. These interventions led to improvements in systolic and diastolic BP values among participants.