Post Exercise Hypotension Following Concurrent Exercise: Does Order of Exercise Modality Matter?

Abstract

Cardiovascular (CV) and resistance training (RT) can moderate negative effects of aging, disease, and inactivity. Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) has been used as a non-pharmacological means to control and reduce BP. Few have evaluated PEH response following a bout of exercise combining CV and RT, whether or not there is an order effect, or if PEH continues when activities of daily living (ADLs) are resumed. Participants (N = 10) completed a non-exercise control, a graded exercise test (GXT), and two concurrent sessions (CVRT and RTCV). Each session was followed by a 60-minute laboratory and 3-hour ADLs PEH assessment, respectively. Two-way and Welch-one-way repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine differences between among conditions in PEH. There was a significant interaction between BP and condition following the 60-minute laboratory measure (p = .030, η_p ² = .166) and the ADLs BP assessments (p = .008, η_p ² = .993), respectively. PEH occurred following concurrent exercise conditions at minute 45 for RTCV (118 ± 8, p = .041; 95% CI [0.223, 17.443]) and minutes 50 (117 ± 9; p = .036 95% CI [0.441, 21.097]) and 55 (118 + 8; p < .001; 95% CI [5.884, 14.731]) following CVRT. BP was elevated during ADLs following the control session compared to the GXT, RTCV, and CVRT. Regardless of the order, concurrent exercise is effective in potentiating PEH. Elevation in BP associated with ADLs can be mitigated if exercise is performed previously.

Keywords: Exercise prescription; accelerometry; cardiovascular health; physical activity; resistance training.

Figure 1

Participants completed the control session on the first day. Then, individuals were assigned to a counter balance where strength and maximal aerobic fitness were assessed to provide information to prescribe exercise for subsequent CVRT and RTCV sessions.

Figure 2

Sample means for systolic BP following the control and experimental conditions. Baseline = average systolic BP of all sessions. * = significant PEH following RTCV. ǂ = significant PEH following CVRT. A: No PEH was noted after GXT or control sessions. B: No PEH noted after returning to ADLs.

Figure 3

Graphical representation of percent change in BP from baseline to each time interval, respectively. Baseline was the average resting systolic BP from all conditions. * = significant PEH following RTCV. ǂ = significant PEH following CVRT. A: Time is measured in minutes post activity. No PEH was noted after GXT or control sessions. B: No PEH noted after returning to ADLs.

Figure 4

Hourly step activity between conditions. No statistical differences were found.