Association between arterial stiffness and autonomic recovery following graded aerobic exercise in healthy young adults ‒ an exploratory pilot study

Introduction and aim. Arterial stiffness reflects vascular properties that can influence blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses to exercise, but its association with post-exercise autonomic recovery in healthy young adults remains unclear. This exploratory pilot study investigated the relationship between baseline aortic stiffness and post-exercise hemodynamic and autonomic recovery following graded submaximal aerobic exercise. Material and methods. Thirty healthy young adults (17 women, 13 males; mean age 22.7±2.5 years) underwent baseline evaluation of carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), central BP, and pulse wave analysis. Participants completed a graded submaximal cycling protocol from 20 to 80% of the maximum oxygen uptake in 3-minute stages, followed by 5 minutes of seated recovery. HR was continuously recorded and BP measured at 1, 3, and 5 minutes of recovery. Autonomic recovery was assessed using heart rate recovery (HRR) and heart rate variability (HRV) indices. Associations were analyzed using correlation and multivariate linear regression adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index. Results. Higher baseline cf-PWV was associated with higher peak HR and systolic BP during exercise (p<0.01), and slower HRR at 1 min (r=-0.517, p=0.002). Cf-PWV independently predicted early HRR after adjustment. Conclusion. In this pilot sample of healthy young adults, greater aortic stiffness was associated with higher BP responses during exercise and slower early autonomic recovery. These findings suggest an association between vascular properties and early postexercise recovery, which should be confirmed in larger studies.