Effects of habitual exercise on blood pressure during aerobic and resistance exercise in older individuals

Abstract

Blood pressure increases transiently during exercise in proportion to exercise intensity as a response to the increased demand for blood flow to the muscles. However, in addition to exercise intensity, many factors, including age and arterial stiffness, affect blood pressure during exercise. Aerobic exercises such as walking and cycling and resistance exercises such as lifting objects and climbing stairs are part of daily life activities. Therefore, exaggerated blood pressure responses to exercise increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. In this paper, the effects of habitual exercise on blood pressure during aerobic and resistance exercise are reviewed. Keywords : exercise blood pressure, exercise training, resistance exercise, aerobic exercise Exaggerated blood pressure response to exerciseBlood pressure transiently increases during aerobic 1-3) and resistance 4,5) exercise in proportion to exercise intensity as a response to the increased demand for blood flow to the muscles. However, many other factors besides exercise intensity affect blood pressure during exercise. We previously explored factors affecting blood pressure during self-paced outdoor walking using a wrist-type blood pressure monitor 6) . Systolic blood pressure (SBP) was higher during walking compared to the resting state, but the increase in SBP was greater at the 1 km mark than at the 2 and 3 km marks. In stepwise regression analysis, air temperature and body mass index (BMI), as well as resting SBP and walking pace, were identified as independent predictors of SBP during walking. In laboratory tests during which exercise intensity was strictly controlled according to the testing protocol, age was an important factor affecting SBP during exercise; subjects older than 70 years had higher SBP during cycling than subjects in their 60s 3) . With regard to resistance exercise, age, sex, arterial stiffness, BMI, and use of antihypertensive medication, as well as resting SBP, were identified as independent predictors of SBP during exercise 5)