Resistance exercise leading to failure versus not to failure: effects on cardiovascular control.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the acute effects of resistance exercise (RE) leading to failure and RE that was not to failure on 24 h blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV) in sedentary normotensive adult women. METHODS: Ten women (33.2 ± 5.8 years; 159.3 ± 9.4 cm; 58.0 ±6.4 kg; body fat 28.4 ± 2.8%) randomly underwent three experimental sessions: control (40 minutes of seated rest), RE leading to failure with 3 sets of 10 repetitions maximum (10-RM), and RE not to failure at 60% of 10-RM with 3 sets of 10 repetitions. Immediately post session BP and HRV were measured for 24 h. RESULTS: Ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate were higher during the 10-RM session when compared with 60% of 10-RM (6.4 ± 0.5 vs 3.5 ± 0.8 and 123.7 ± 13.9 vs 104.5 ± 7.3 bpm, respectively). The systolic, diastolic and mean BP decreased at 07:00 a.m. after the 10-RM session when compared with the control session (-9.0 ± 7.8 mmHg, -16.0 ± 12.9 mmHg and -14.3 ± 11.2 mmHg, respectively). The root mean square of the squared differences between R-R intervals decreased after both the 60% of 10-RM and 10-RM sessions compared with the control session. CONCLUSIONS: An acute RE session leading to failure induced a higher drop of BP upon awakening, while both RE sessions reduced cardiac parasympathetic modulation. RE may be an interesting training strategy to acutely decrease BP in adult women.

Resistance training decreases 24-hour blood pressure in women with metabolic syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to verify the effects of eight weeks of resistance training (RT) on 24 hour blood pressure (BP) in patients with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS). METHODS: Seventeen women volunteered to participate in this study, 9 with MetS (37.0 ± 8.7 yrs; body mass 77.3 ± 9.7 kg; body mass index 30.3 ± 4.2 kg · m(-2)) and 8 without MetS (35.1 ± 7.2 yrs; body mass 61.3 ± 8.1 kg; body mass index 24.2 ± 2.5 kg · m(-2)). Individuals were subjected to eight weeks (3 times/week) of whole body RT comprised of one exercise for each main muscle group with three sets of 8-12 repetitions of each subject's maximal load . A rest interval of one minute was allowed between sets and exercises. Twenty-four hour BP was measured by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. RESULTS: Mean and diastolic night-time BP decreased (-3.9 mmHg, p = 0.04; -5.5 mmHg, p = 0.03, respectively) after eight weeks of training in MetS patients. This decrease was observed at 11:00 pm, 02:00 am (only diastolic), 07:00 am, and 6:00 pm. There was no training effect on BP in women without MetS. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the elevation of BP as a contributor to the pathogenesis of MetS, and also to the increase of cardiovascular risk, this study supports RT as a non-pharmacological therapy in the management of BP control for MetS.

Effects of eight weeks of resistance training on the risk factors of metabolic syndrome in overweight /obese women - "A Pilot Study".

BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of eight weeks of resistance training (RT) on anthropometric, cardiovascular and biochemical risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS), and neuromuscular variables on overweight/obese women. METHODS: Fourteen middle-aged (33.9 ± 8.6 years) overweight/obese women (body mass index - BMI 29.6 ± 4.1 kg/m2) underwent 24 sessions (3 times/week) of a whole body RT program with 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions maximum (RM). The following variables were evaluated: maximum strength on chest press and frontal lat pull-down; isometric hand-grip strength; biceps brachii (BB) and rectus femoris (RF) muscle thickness, body mass; BMI; body adiposity index (BAI); waist, hip and neck circumferences; visceral fat volume; blood glucose; glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c); insulin; HDL-C and triglycerides. RESULTS: There was an increase of chest press (from 52.9 ± 9.7 to 59.8 ± 7.7 kg; P = 0.02) and front lat pull-down (from 51.5 ± 7.5 to 57.6 ± 9.2 kg; P = 0.01) muscle strength, isometric handgrip (P = 0.02) and RF muscle thickness (from 42.2 ± 8.5 to 45.1 ± 7.3 mm; P = 0.02) after the 8 week RT program. There were no statistically significant alterations on plasma glucose, HbA1c, insulin, triglycerides, HDL-C, anthropometric indexes and BB muscle thickness (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A RT program without caloric restriction promotes an increase on muscle thickness and strength, with no effects on risk factors of MetS in overweight/obese women.

Association of body composition with sarcopenic obesity in elderly women.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity and its association with obesity and sarcopenia in elderly Brazilian women. Two hundred and seventy-two sedentary women with a mean age of 66.75 ± 5.38 years were recruited for participation in this study. Obesity was determined by both body mass index and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) evaluations. Sarcopenic obesity diagnosis was established from the ratio between fat-free mass and body surface area as obtained by DXA. There was no association of obesity with sarcopenic obesity (P = 0.424). In contrast, sarcopenia was significantly related to sarcopenic obesity (P < 0.001), although most of the elderly women with sarcopenia (n = 171) did not exhibit sarcopenic obesity. These results highlight the importance of diagnosing sarcopenic obesity as elderly women exhibiting sarcopenia could be either eutrophic or obese.

Association of cardiovascular response to an acute resistance training session with the ACE gene polymorphism in sedentary women: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to verify the effects of an acute resistance training (RT) session and insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) on systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) and mean blood pressure (MBP), and heart rate (HR). METHODS: The sample consisted of 27 sedentary women (33.3 ± 8.2 yrs; 69.1 ± 13.8 kg; 1.57 ± 0.05 m; 27.6 ± 5.1 kg/m2) divided into two groups according to their polymorphism I/D (DD = 9; II + ID = 18). Volunteers underwent two experimental sessions: RT - an acute session performed with three sets at 60% of one-repetition maximum (1RM) interspersed with 1 minute rest interval between exercises and sets, and a control session (CON) in which they remained seated for 30 minutes in the laboratory. SBP, DBP, MBP and HR were measured before exercise and during one hour every 10 minutes after sessions, in the seated position. A two-way ANOVA for repeated measures with Tukey's post hoc test was used for the intra and inter-group comparisons. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences on SBP, DBP and MBP after the experimental protocols, and no effect of ACE polymorphism (P > 0.05). However, comparing CON versus exercise effect size values (ES), homozygotic carriers of the allele D presented a drop in SBP which was considered moderate, while in allele I carriers it was small, 30 minutes after exercise. In MBP, homozygotic D carriers exhibited a large ES 20 minutes post-exercise. HR was higher at 10, 20 and 30 minutes after exercise as compared to pre-exercise only for carriers of the I allele ( < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, an acute RT session reduces clinical BP. In addition to this; it seems that ACE polymorphism had some influence on cardiovascular response to exercise. TRIAL REGISTRATION: RBR-6GDYVZ.

Exercise order affects the total training volume and the ratings of perceived exertion in response to a super-set resistance training session.

The super-set is a widely used resistance training method consisting of exercises for agonist and antagonist muscles with limited or no rest interval between them - for example, bench press followed by bent-over rows. In this sense, the aim of the present study was to compare the effects of different super-set exercise sequences on the total training volume. A secondary aim was to evaluate the ratings of perceived exertion and fatigue index in response to different exercise order. On separate testing days, twelve resistance-trained men, aged 23.0 ± 4.3 years, height 174.8 ± 6.75 cm, body mass 77.8 ± 13.27 kg, body fat 12.0% ± 4.7%, were submitted to a super-set method by using two different exercise orders: quadriceps (leg extension) + hamstrings (leg curl) (QH) or hamstrings (leg curl) + quadriceps (leg extension) (HQ). Sessions consisted of three sets with a ten-repetition maximum load with 90 seconds rest between sets. Results revealed that the total training volume was higher for the HQ exercise order (P = 0.02) with lower perceived exertion than the inverse order (P = 0.04). These results suggest that HQ exercise order involving lower limbs may benefit practitioners interested in reaching a higher total training volume with lower ratings of perceived exertion compared with the leg extension plus leg curl order.