Endurance training and blood pressure in normotensive and hypertensive adults

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Abstract
Twenty-one male and female adults 43 .+-. 4 yr of age completed in 8-wk control period, 16 wk of conditioning and 12 wk of deconditioning to determine whether exercise alters blood pressure. Subjects were classified as borderline/mild hypertensive (H, diastolic pressure .gtoreq. 85 and 0.05) from those of the control period. Ambulatory 24-h double product and heart rate increased (P < 0.05). In spite of this strong evidence of a conditioning effect, neither group showed changes (P > 0.05) in average 24-h ambulatory or casual blood pressure. The average ambulatory blood pressure for 8-h segments of the day (8 a.m. - 4 p.m., 4 p.m. - 12 a.m., and 12 a.m. - 8 a.m.) was also not altered. Cardiac output and total peripheral resistance at rest did not change (P > 0.05). These findings question the generally accepted belief that endurance exercise conditioning reduces blood pressure in hypertensive individuals by decreasing either cardiac output or total peripheral resistance.