Active Intervals Between Sets of Resistance Exercises Potentiate the Magnitude of Postexercise Hypotension in Elderly Hypertensive Women

Active and passive intervals (AI, PI) between exercise series promote different hemodynamic responses; however, the impact of these intervals on the blood pressure response has not yet been investigated. The objective of this study was to compare the impact of AIs and PIs during resistance exercises with the magnitude of postexercise hypotension (PEH). Elderly hypertensive women (n = 21, 61.2 ± 2 years of age) completed 4 sessions for upper or lower limbs with AI or PI (3 sets, 15 repetitions, 60% load of 15 repetition maximum (RM), and an interval of 90 seconds between sets). Blood pressure was measured 10 minutes before and at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 minutes after the exercise sessions. The heart rate at the end of each AI was always significantly higher than that after the PI, but the perceived exertion as measured by the Perceived Exertion Scale (OMNI-RPE) was similar to that of PI exercise protocols. In the lower limb exercises, AI resulted in significantly and consistently higher PEH than in exercises with PI for both systolic (from 20 minutes postexercise) and diastolic (from 10 minutes postexercise) pressures. The upper limb exercises promoted much more discrete PEH in relation to the lower limb exercises, given that the AI promoted significantly higher PEH relative to the PI protocols, but only for systolic PEH and only from 30 minutes postexercise. This is the first time that AIs between sets in a session of resistance exercises have been shown to be a highly effective methodological strategy to increase PEH in elderly hypertensive women.