Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Mar 28;8(4):41.
doi: 10.3390/sports8040041.

Are Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Stress Greater in Isometric or in Dynamic Resistance Exercise?

Anastasios Kounoupis  1 , Stavros Papadopoulos  1 , Nikiforos Galanis  2 , Konstantina Dipla  1 , Andreas Zafeiridis  1
Affiliations
Review

Are Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Stress Greater in Isometric or in Dynamic Resistance Exercise?

Anastasios Kounoupis et al. Sports (Basel). .

Abstract

Medical and sports medicine associations are reluctant to endorse isometric exercise to the same extent as dynamic resistance exercise (RE). The major concern is the fear of greater increases in blood pressure (BP) that might be associated with isometric exercise. This review comprehensively presents all human studies that directly compared the magnitude of hemodynamic responses between isometric and dynamic RE. We also discuss possible mechanisms controlling BP-response and cardiovascular adjustments during both types of RE. The most prominent finding was that isometric and dynamic RE using small-muscle mass evoke equal increases in BP; however, the circulatory adjustments contributing to this response are different in dynamic and isometric RE. In contrast, studies using large-muscle mass report inconsistent results for the magnitude of BP-response between the two types of RE. Thus, when the same muscles and workloads are used, the increase in BP during isometric and dynamic RE is more comparable to what is commonly believed. However, it should be noted that only a few studies equalized the workload in two types of RE, most used small sample sizes, and all studies employed healthy participants. More studies are needed to compare the cardiovascular risks associated with isometric and dynamic RE, especially in individuals with chronic disease.

Keywords: blood pressure; cardiovascular; contraction; dynamic; exercise; heartrate; isometric; metaboreflex; resistance; static.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart showing the selection process of the articles presented in this review.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Blood pressure (BP) response and cardiovascular adjustments controlling the BP response, during small muscle mass isometric and dynamic resistance exercise (RE). There is a consensus among studies that the magnitude of BP response during small muscle mass isometric exercise is similar to that in dynamic RE. Arrows denote the direction of the response during each mode of exercise. Double arrows denote a greater response in dynamic RE versus isometric. *some studies report similar and other studies increased or different response in dynamic RE versus isometric exercise.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Blood pressure (BP) response and cardiovascular adjustments controlling the BP response, during intermediate or large muscle mass isometric and dynamic resistance exercise (RE) with similar load. Studies using intermediate- or large-muscle mass (one- or two-leg muscles) report inconsistent results for the magnitude of the BP response between the two types of RE. Three studies report an equal BP response, two studies report a greater BP increase in isometric, and one study reports a greater BP increase in dynamic RE. Arrows denote the direction of the response during each mode of exercise. Double arrows denote greater response in dynamic RE versus isometric. *some studies report similar and other studies increased or different response in dynamic RE versus isometric exercise at similar tension.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Braith R.W., Beck D.T. Resistance exercise: Training adaptations and developing a safe exercise prescription. Heart Fail. Rev. 2008;13:69–79. doi: 10.1007/s10741-007-9055-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Garber C.E., Blissmer B., Deschenes M.R., Franklin B.A., Lamonte M.J., Lee I.M., Nieman D.C., Swain D.P. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: Guidance for prescribing exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2011;43:1334–1359. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Williams M.A., Haskell W.L., Ades P.A., Amsterdam E.A., Bittner V., Franklin B.A., Gulanick M., Laing S.T., Stewart K.J. Resistance exercise in individuals with and without cardiovascular disease: 2007 update: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology and Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism. Circulation. 2007;116:572–584. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.185214. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cornelissen V.A., Fagard R.H., Coeckelberghs E., Vanhees L. Impact of resistance training on blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors: A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials. Hypertension. 2011;58:950–958. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.177071. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chrysant S.G. Current evidence on the hemodynamic and blood pressure effects of isometric exercise in normotensive and hypertensive persons. J. Clin. Hypertens. 2010;12:721–726. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-7176.2010.00328.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources