Vascular and autonomic recovery after resistance training with and without post-exercise static stretching: a randomized controlled crossover trial

Purpose Resistance training (RT) may induce transient changes in endothelial and autonomic patterns. Static stretching (SS) performed at the end of an RT session may alter the temporal course of recovery of these responses. This study investigates whether SS following RT modulates acute endothelial, autonomic, and haemodynamic recovery compared with RT alone. Methods Twenty-seven healthy males completed three experimental sessions in a randomized-crossover design: RT, RT + SS, and control condition (CC). RT consisted of two upper-body resistance exercises (bench-press and seated-biceps curl), while RT + SS included the same RT protocol followed by SS of the same muscle groups. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD%), brachial-artery diameter (BA diameter), heart rate variability (HRV), heart rate (HR), and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured at baseline (BL), immediately after exercise (POST), and 30 min after exercise (POST30). Results RT produced a significant reduction in FMD% at POST ( p < 0.001; Cohen’s d = 1.58), which remained below the BL value at POST30 ( p = 0.012; d = 0.90); these decreases were not observed in RT + SS. The BA diameter increased following both conditions; however, at POST30 it remained above BL only following RT ( p < 0.001; d = 0.60). At POST, both conditions significantly reduced RMSSD and HF, along with an increase in HR. At POST30, however, HF and RMSSD showed an unfavorable recovery in RT alone ( p = 0.016; d = 0.72; p = 0.028; d = 0.57), while in RT + SS all values returned to BL. MAP decreased at POST in both conditions and returned to BL at POST30. Conclusion The addition of SS at the end of a RT session was associated with earlier autonomic and vascular recovery compared with RT alone. SS may represent a simple and sustainable recovery strategy after RT.