Post-exercise blood pressure responses to different resistive training modalities

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the post-exercise blood pressure and heart rate responses to two different methods of resistance exercise [traditional (TR) and standard (ST)] based on differences in contraction times. Thirty-five normotensive young men (20.6 ± 1.7 years; 71.0 ± 2.7 kg; 175.7 ± 5.3 cm) participated in this study. The volunteers were randomly assigned into three groups: non-exercised control group (n = 10), TR group (n = 13) and ST group (n = 12). The TR group performed resistance exercise with 2 s eccentric and 4 s concentric contractions. In contrast, contraction times were 1 s eccentric and 2 s concentric for the ST group. The exercises were performed in three sets × eight repetitions at 80 % of 1RM. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before exercise (baseline) and at intervals of 10 min for 90 min after exercise. During control trial, blood pressure and heart rate did not change significantly. Post-exercise blood pressure did not change after resistance exercise method (TR or ST) compared to pre-exercise levels. Heart rate was increased similarly after exercise for both exercised groups in all post-exercise measurements compared with baseline. Resistance exercise at TR or ST methods in normotensive men did not influence the post-exercise blood pressure levels and heart rate response. However, blood pressure and heart rate levels were lower in some time points after ST than TR exercise bouts.