Cardiac Autonomic and Blood Pressure Responses to an Acute Bout of Kettlebell Exercise

Wong, A, Nordvall, M, Walters-Edwards, M, Lastova, K, Francavillo, G, Tripken, J, Summerfield, L, and Sanchez-Gonzalez, M. Cardiac autonomic and blood pressure responses to an acute bout of kettlebell exercise. J Strength Cond Res 35(2S): S173-S179, 2021-Kettlebell (KB) training has become an extremely popular exercise program for improving both muscle strength and aerobic fitness. However, the cardiac autonomic modulation and blood pressure (BP) responses induced by an acute KB exercise session are currently unknown. Understanding the impact of this exercise modality on the postexercise autonomic modulation and BP would facilitate appropriate exercise prescription in susceptible populations. This study evaluated the effects of an acute session of KB exercise on heart rate variability and BP responses in healthy individuals. Seventeen (male = 10 and female = 7) healthy subjects completed either a KB or nonexercise control trial in randomized order. Heart rate variability and BP measurements were collected at baseline, 3, 10, and 30 minutes after each trial. There were significant increases (p < 0.01) in heart rate, markers of sympathetic activity (nLF), and sympathovagal balance (nLF/nHF) for 30 minutes after the KB trial, whereas no changes from baseline were observed after the control trial. There were also significant decreases (p < 0.01) in markers of vagal tone (RMMSD and nHF) for 30 minutes as well as (p < 0.01) systolic BP and diastolic BP at 10 and 30 minutes after the KB trial, whereas no changes from baseline were observed after the control trial. Our findings indicate that KB exercise increases sympathovagal balance for 30 minutes postintervention, which is concurrent with an important hypotensive effect. Further research is warranted to evaluate the potential clinical application of KB training in populations that might benefit from postexercise hypotension, such as hypertensives.