Key result
Aerobic exercise once every 1 to 2 weeks maintains baPWV reductions from prior training.
Why the study?
Exercise interventions reduce arterial stiffness, an age-related risk factor for arteriosclerosis, but this reduction disappears after complete discontinuation of exercise, motivating evaluation of the effect of reduced exercise frequency after an exercise intervention.
RCT (n=19)
Random division into two reduced-frequency groups after initial 12-week exercise intervention
No
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Reduced-frequency aerobic exercise may sustain arterial stiffness reductions post-training in women; leaves open generalizability and need for randomized confirmation.
Advancing age is associated with an increase in arterial stiffness [1]. Arterial stiffness has been shown to be an independent risk factor for arteriosclerosis-related diseases [2-5] and a useful prognostic factor in the general population and patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus [6-9]. Based on these findings, preventing progression of arterial stiffness seems important for the prevention of arteriosclerosis to increase patients’ chances of living a healthy, long life. In the 1990s, the Baltimore study demonstrated that exercise is useful for preventing the progression of arterial stiffness [10]. Subsequently, many studies have reported the association between exercise and arterial stiffness, indicating that exercising two to five times per week reduces arterial stiffness [11-17]. Regarding the duration of exercise, even a relatively short duration of exercise intervention, that is 4 to 8 weeks, reportedly leads to a reduction in arterial stiffness [13,18]. Furthermore, because exercise intervention results in reduced arterial stiffness and increased nitrite/nitrate (NOx) concentrations [19], nitric oxide (NO) appears to be involved in the mechanism through which exercise reduces arterial stiffness. Moreover, several previous studies have revealed that exercise-induced reduction in arterial stiffness disappears after discontinuation of exercise.
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Hiroya Koshiba (2019) conducted an RCT in Arterial stiffness in middle-aged and older women (n=19). Reduced-frequency aerobic exercise (bicycle ergometer once per week after 12-week initial training) vs. Aerobic exercise once every 2 weeks (50% heart rate reserve for 50 minutes) was evaluated on Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) at 12 and 24 weeks compared to pre-exercise (p=<0.05). Aerobic exercise once per week or once every 2 weeks for 12 weeks maintained significant reductions in baPWV achieved after a 12-week training program.
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