Aerobic exercise combined with mild to moderate circulatory resistance exercise can improve blood pressure variability and other circulatory indexes of persons with hypertension

Objective To observe the effect of aerobic exercise combined with impedance training on the blood pressure variability and other blood-related indexes of patients with hypertension. Methods Ninety patients with essential hypertension were randomly divided into group A, group B and group C, each of 30. All were treated with conventional anti-hypertensive drugs. Groups B and C additionally underwent 40 minutes of aerobic training and group C also received resistance training. There were 3 training sessions a week for 12 weeks. Each subject′s 24 h systolic blood pressure (24hSBP), 24 h diastolic blood pressure (24hDBP) and their standard deviations were observed before and after the 12 weeks. Blood indexes were examined and a plasma arteriosclerosis index was calculated. Results Before the treatment, there were no significant differences in any of the average measurements among the three groups. After the treatment, the average 24hSBP and 24hDBP of all three groups had decreased significantly, but larger decreases were observed in groups B and C. Compared with group B, the average 24hSBP and 24hDBP of group C had decreased significantly more. The average levels of atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and lipoprotein phospholipase A2 of groups B and C were significantly lower than before the treatment and also significantly lower than group A′s average. The decrease in group C was significantly greater than in group B. Conclusions Anti-hypertensive drugs can lower blood pressure, but cannot effectively control blood pressure variation, reduce blood lipids or improve the arteriosclerosis index. Long-term, regular aerobic exercise can decrease these indicators and reduce cardiovascular disease risk in elderly patients with hypertension. Aerobic exercise combined with mild to moderate circulatory resistance exercise is more effective than aerobic exercise alone. Key words: Aerobic exercise; Resistance training; Hypertension; Blood pressure variability; Arteriosclerosis; Lipoprotein phospholipase A2