Blood pressure and autonomic responses following isolated and combined aerobic and resistance exercise in hypertensive older women.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to compare blood pressure (BP) after isolated and combined sessions of aerobic and resistance exercises in hypertensive older women. Heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were included as additional variables.

METHODS: Twenty-one older women (63±1.9 years; 69.9±2.7 kg; 158.8±2.1 cm) with controlled hypertension (resting BP = 132.2 ± 3.1/74.1 ± 4.0 mmHg) performed four random sessions on different days: 1) aerobic exercise (AE: treadmill walking/running; 40 min; 50-60% HRreserve); 2) resistance exercise (RE: 8 exercises; 3 sets; 15 reps; 40% 1RM)); 3) aerobic exercise followed by resistance exercise (A+R); 4); control (CON). BP, HR and HRV were measured at rest and during 180 min after the sessions.

RESULTS: The AE and A+R sessions demonstrated significant decreases in SBP and DBP (30, 60, 120, and 180 min; P < 0.05) and increases in HR (30 and 60 min; P < 0.05) compared to the CON. The RE session demonstrated significant reductions compared to the CON only for DBP (120 and 180 min; P < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in HRV between resting and all sessions.

CONCLUSION: All sessions that involved aerobic exercise (AE and A+R) caused postexercise hypotension in comparison to the CON, with no differences in HRV.