Key result
Acute exercise transiently reduces arterial stiffness at 30 minutes, but benefits fade by 24 hours.
Why the study?
Long-term exercise reduces arterial stiffness and cardiovascular risk, but the acute effect of exercise on arterial stiffness remains unclear.
Does acute exercise reduce arterial stiffness in healthy adults?
Meta-Analysis (n=763)
Does acute exercise reduce arterial stiffness in healthy adults?
Acute exercise transiently reduces arterial stiffness 30 minutes post-exercise, but levels return to baseline within 24 hours, suggesting daily exercise is needed for sustained benefits.
Daily exercise likely needed to sustain arterial stiffness reductions; extends evidence distinguishing acute transient from chronic vascular effects.
Arterial stiffness has been shown to be a subclinical marker associated with cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, long-term exercise has been demonstrated to reduce arterial stiffness, providing a decrease in cardiovascular risk. However, the acute effect of exercise on arterial stiffness is unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the acute effect of exercise interventions on arterial stiffness in healthy adults. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE (via Pubmed), Scopus, and Web of Science databases, from their inception to 30 June 2020. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the acute effect of exercise on arterial stiffness using random-effects models to calculate pooled effect size estimates and their corresponding 95% CI. Pulse wave velocity was measured as an arterial stiffness index. The 30 studies included in the meta-analysis showed that pulse wave velocity was not modified immediately after exercise (0 min post) (ES: 0.02; 95% CI: -0.22, 0.26), but subsequently decreased 30 min after exercise (ES: -0.27; 95% CI: -0.43, -0.12). Thereafter, pulse wave velocity increased to its initial value 24 h after exercise (ES: -0.07; 95% CI: -0.21, 0.07). Our results show that, although there is a significant reduction in pulse wave velocity 30 min after exercise, the levels of arterial stiffness return to their basal levels after 24 h. These findings could imply that, in order to achieve improvements in pulse wave velocity, exercise should be performed on a daily basis.
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Saz‐Lara et al. (2021) conducted a meta-analysis in Healthy subjects (n=763). Exercise vs. Pre-exercise baseline was evaluated on Pulse wave velocity 30 minutes after exercise (ES -0.27, 95% CI -0.43, -0.12). Exercise significantly reduced pulse wave velocity 30 minutes after completion (ES -0.27), but arterial stiffness returned to basal levels after 24 hours.
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