The Relation between the Blood Pressure Response to Exercise during Training and Detraining Periods

Exercise training lowers blood pressure (BP) 5-7 mmHg, but the relation between the BP response to exercise training and detraining is unclear. PURPOSE: To examine the BP response after 6m of training followed by 2wk of detraining among a subsample from the Studies of a Targeted Risk Reduction Intervention through Defined Exercise study. METHODS: Subjects were 38 men and 37 women 50.2±10.6y with a body mass index of 30.5±3.2kg·m-2 and resting BP of 120.0±13.7/79.1±9.2mmHg. Subjects completed 1of 3 types of exercise training: aerobic (AE) vigorous intensity (n=34); resistance training (RT) (n=28); or AE vigorous and RT (n=13). Simple linear and multivariable regression tested the response of BP to exercise and detraining. Chi square tested the frequency of subjects that increased/decreased BP after training and detraining. RESULTS: Among the total sample, BP was not different after training and detraining, regardless of modality (p\u3e.05). However, subjects who responded to the BP lowering effects of exercise training reduced BP 10.0±6.7/9.1±4.9 mmHg; whereas those that did not respond increased BP 9.6±7.6/6.2±5.3 mmHg (pCONCLUSION:Future work is needed to elucidate mechanisms that explain why some people lower BP with exercise training, while others lower BP with detraining. Grant: 1R01HL57354; 2003-2008; NCT0027514