Why the study?
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and regular physical activity represents a key modifiable factor in prevention.
How do cardiovascular responses to intermittent back muscle and bicycle ergometer exercise differ between healthy adult males aged up to 45 years and over 45 years?
How do cardiovascular responses to intermittent back muscle and bicycle ergometer exercise differ between healthy adult males aged up to 45 years and over 45 years?
Healthy adult males over 45 years exhibit altered cardiovascular and muscle oxygenation responses to exercise compared to younger individuals, including reduced muscle oxygen saturation and signs of functional myocardial ischemia.
May inform age-specific exercise monitoring in healthy men; leaves open generalization to CVD patients or practice change.
Background and Objectives: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Regular physical activity (PA) represents a key modifiable factor in CVD prevention. Methods: Fifty-two healthy adult males participated in this study, divided into two groups: aged up to 45 years and over 45 years. The subjects performed a bicycle ergometer exercise and a standardised back muscle workload protocol. ECG, arterial blood pressure (ABP), and muscle oxygen saturation (StO2) measurements were obtained during workload and recovery. Results: During bicycle ergometer workload, heart rate (HR) at minute 2 was significantly lower in participants over 45 years of age compared to the younger group (126.8–109.8 bpm), while diastolic blood pressure (dBP) was significantly lower in the under-45 group during maximal workload (65.4–71.9 mmHg) and the first minute of recovery (54.6–69.3 mmHg). During workload for back muscles, the over-45 group showed significantly lower dBP at the third rest period (87–74.7 mmHg), while StO2 was significantly lower in the over-45 group compared to the under-45 group (54.4–77.8%). Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that both bicycle ergometer exercise and standardised back muscle workload had a significant influence on cardiovascular system (CVS) responses, particularly when stratified by age. Participants over the age of 45 exhibited a higher incidence of functional myocardial ischaemia, reduced StO2 and more pronounced increases in HR during and following exertion.
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Brazdzionyte et al. (2025) studied this question.
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