Self-selected exercise intensity for inactive hypertensive older women: a pilot study

Abstract

Self-selected exercise intensity (SSE) is a simple approach to encourage an active lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate whether a SSE intensity session meet the recommended intensity for hypertension management (i.e. moderate-vigorous), and whether heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and affective responses are reproducible. Thirteen inactive hypertensive older women (age: 64.54 ± 4.16 years; blood pressure: 122.51/62.15 mmHg) performed two 30-minute SSE intensity sessions outdoors. HR reserve (HRR), RPE and affective responses were assessed. Paired t-test, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and typical error (TE) were used for the analyzes. Participants exercised at moderate-vigorous intensity (≥ 40% of HRR). No differences were found for HRR (56.46 ± 8.01% vs. 59.08 ± 10.57%), RPE (11.26 ± 1.14 vs. 10.98 ± 1.52) and affective response (3.47 ± 1.13 vs. 3.38 ± 1.23) (p > 0.05). RPE showed excellent reliability (ICC = 0.82; 95%CI: 0.42; 0.94; p = 0.003). There was a poor reliability for HRR (ICC = 0.40; 95%CI: -0.97; 0.82; p = 0.193) and affective responses (ICC = 0.19; 95%CI: -2.10; 0.76; p = 0.369). TE between sessions for HRR, RPE, and affective response were 8.11 bpm, 0.75 and 1.11, respectively. In conclusion, inactive hypertensive older women seem to meet the recommended intensity for hypertension management when they exercise at a self-selected pace and report it as light-moderate and pleasant. Despite only RPE, but not HR and affective response, has shown good reproducibility, the results seem to support the use of SSE intensity as a simple approach to encourage an active lifestyle in this population.

<p>Short-Term Effect of Self-Selected Training Intensity on Ambulatory Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Older Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial</p>

“…The BP was measured every 2 minutes during and immediately following the end of the maximal graded exercise test by the auscultatory method. RPE was recorded every minute using Borg's RPE scale (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). 22 The graded exercise test was considered maximal when the participant reached an RPE > 17 and HR within ± 10 bpm of age-predicted HR max (220age).…”

“…They were allowed to exercise if their BP was lower than 160/105 mmHg. 23 Participants were instructed to regulate their own pace before the SSTI sessions using the following statement and following the same procedures of previous studies 15,16 from our group: We would like that you exercise for [30, 35, 40, 45, or 50 minutes] at a pace of your own choosing. You can freely change the pace at any time during the exercise.…”

“…7 Two previous studies from our group showed that hypertensive older women self-select an exercise intensity between 50% and 60% of HR reserve and report the exercise sessions as "light" and "pleasant". 15,16 In addition, Costa et al 16 showed that a single 30-minute self-selected exercise intensity session elicited a reduction in ambulatory systolic (BP) in inactive hypertensive older women. The systolic postexercise hypotension (PEH) of ~6 mmHg lasted up to a sixhour period and contributed to a reduction in the mean values of systolic BP in the 20-hour and awake periods.…”