Blood pressure changes during physical exercise (the beat phenomenon)

We have previously reported that blood pressure during running shows a peculiar pattern attributable to the beat phenomenon. To elucidate the mechanism behind this phenomenon in 10 amateur athletes, intra-arterial blood pressure was continuously recorded using the Oxford technique. During the run, each athlete carried on his chest a container filled with saline kept under pressure, connected to a second transducer. In the container, pressure waves ranging in amplitude from +/- 10 to +/- 62 mmHg were recorded. Their frequency was equal to that of the athletes' strides. When these waves were added by computer to the blood pressure tracing recorded during a bicycle ergometric test, the resultant harmonic proved to be similar to the tracing observed during running. The present results demonstrate that the running-induced blood pressure pattern is the sum of the accessory wave generated by the rhythmic aortic shocks produced by running locomotion and the normal sphygmic wave.