Cardiovascular Workload After A Single Bout Of Resistance Exercise In Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease

A single bout of resistance exercise decreases systolic blood pressure (SBP), suggesting that resistance exercise might be useful to reduce cardiovascular workload in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients. However, whether this response is accompanied by an increase in heart rate (HR) and rate pressure product (RPP) leading to an increase in cardiovascular workload remains unknown. PURPOSE. To analyze the effects of a single bout of resistance exercise on cardiovascular workload in patients with PAD. METHODS: Thirteen patients with PAD performed two experimental sessions in random order: control (C) and resistance exercise (R) sessions. Both experimental sessions were identical (six exercises, three sets of 10 repetitions), however while in the C session the intensity in all exercises was 0 in the Omni-Res scale, in the R session it was between 5-7. Before and at 10, 30 and 50 min after experimental sessions, SBP, HR, heart rate variability (HRV), and RPP were obtained. RESULTS. In comparison with pre-intervention values, SBP increased significantly after the C session during all the recovery stages (greatest increase = +10 ± 12 mmHg, P < 0.05), while it decreased significantly after the R session during all the recovery stages (greatest fall = -6±10 mmHg, P < 0.05). The changes in SBP after the R session were significantly greater than after the C session. In comparison with pre-intervention values, HR decreased significantly after the C session at all recovery stages (greatest fall = -7 ± 6 bpm, P < 0.05) and after the R session at 50 min of recovery (-3 ± 8, bpm, P < 0.05). The changes in HR after the C session were significantly greater than after the R session. After both experimental sessions the changes in HR were not enough to alter the HRV. RPP did not change significantly after both experimental sessions (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: A single bout of resistance exercise reduces SBP without increasing HR and RPP. Therefore, resistance exercise might be useful to decrease cardiovascular workload in PAD patients.