The antihypertensive effects of aerobic versus isometric handgrip resistance exercise.

BACKGROUND: Aerobic exercise reduces blood pressure (BP) on average 5-7 mmHg among those with hypertension; limited evidence suggests similar or even greater BP benefits may result from isometric handgrip (IHG) resistance exercise. METHOD: We conducted a randomized controlled trial investigating the antihypertensive effects of an acute bout of aerobic compared with IHG exercise in the same individuals. Middle-aged adults (n = 27) with prehypertension and obesity randomly completed three experiments: aerobic (60% peak oxygen uptake, 30 min); IHG (30% maximum voluntary contraction, 4 × 2 min bilateral); and nonexercise control. Study participants were assessed for carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity pre and post exercise, and left the laboratory wearing an ambulatory BP monitor. RESULTS: SBP and DBP were lower after aerobic versus IHG (4.8 ±â€Š1.8/3.1 ±â€Š1.3 mmHg, P = 0.01/0.04) and control (5.6 ±â€Š1.8/3.6 ±â€Š1.3 mmHg, P = 0.02/0.04) over the awake hours, with no difference between IHG versus control (P = 0.80/0.83). Pulse wave velocity changes following acute exercise did not differ by modality (aerobic increased 0.01 ±â€Š0.21 ms, IHG decreased 0.06 ±â€Š0.15 ms, control increased 0.25 ±â€Š0.17 ms, P > 0.05). A subset of participants then completed either 8 weeks of aerobic or IHG training. Awake SBP was lower after versus before aerobic training (7.6 ±â€Š3.1 mmHg, P = 0.02), whereas sleep DBP was higher after IHG training (7.7 ±â€Š2.3 mmHg, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Our findings did not support IHG as antihypertensive therapy but that aerobic exercise should continue to be recommended as the primary exercise modality for its immediate and sustained BP benefits.

Deep-targeted exon sequencing reveals renal polymorphisms associate with postexercise hypotension among African Americans.

We found variants from the Angiotensinogen-Converting Enzyme (ACE), Angiotensin Type 1 Receptor (AGTR1), Aldosterone Synthase (CYP11B2), and Adducin (ADD1) genes exhibited intensity-dependent associations with the ambulatory blood pressure (BP) response following acute exercise, or postexercise hypotension (PEH). In a validation cohort, we sequenced exons from these genes for their associations with PEH Obese (30.9 ± 3.6 kg m-2) adults (n = 23; 61% African Americans [AF], 39% Caucasian) 42.0 ± 9.8 years with hypertension (139.8 ± 10.4/84.6 ± 6.2 mmHg) completed three random experiments: bouts of vigorous and moderate intensity cycling and control. Subjects wore an ambulatory BP monitor for 19 h. We performed deep-targeted exon sequencing using the Illumina TruSeq Custom Amplicon kit. Variant genotypes were coded as number of minor alleles (#MA) and selected for further statistical analysis based upon Bonferonni or Benjamini-Yekutieli multiple testing corrected p-values under time adjusted linear models for 19 hourly BP measurements per subject. After vigorous intensity over 19 h among ACE, AGTR1, CYP11B2, and ADD1 variants passing multiple testing thresholds, as the #MA increased, systolic (SBP) and/or diastolic BP decreased 12 mmHg (P = 4.5E-05) to 30 mmHg (P = 6.4E-04) among AF only. In contrast, after moderate intensity over 19 h among ACE and CYP11B2 variants passing multiple testing thresholds, as the #MA increased, SBP increased 21 mmHg (P = 8.0E-04) to 22 mmHg (P = 8.2E-04) among AF only. In this replication study, ACE, AGTR1, CYP11B2, and ADD1 variants exhibited associations with PEH after vigorous, but not moderate intensity exercise among AF only. Renal variants should be explored further with a multi-level "omics" approach for associations with PEH among a large, ethnically diverse sample of adults with hypertension.

Exercise for Hypertension: A Prescription Update Integrating Existing Recommendations with Emerging Research.

Hypertension is the most common, costly, and preventable cardiovascular disease risk factor. Numerous professional organizations and committees recommend exercise as initial lifestyle therapy to prevent, treat, and control hypertension. Yet, these recommendations differ in the components of the Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type (FITT) principle of exercise prescription (Ex Rx); the evidence upon which they are based is only of fair methodological quality; and the individual studies upon which they are based generally do not include people with hypertension, which are some of the limitations in this literature. The purposes of this review are to (1) overview the professional exercise recommendations for hypertension in terms of the FITT principle of Ex Rx; (2) discuss new and emerging research related to Ex Rx for hypertension; and (3) present an updated FITT Ex Rx for adults with hypertension that integrates the existing recommendations with this new and emerging research.

Assessing the Existing Professional Exercise Recommendations for Hypertension: A Review and Recommendations for Future Research Priorities.

The Eighth Joint National Committee guideline on the management of adult hypertension was recently released. Rather than recommending specific lifestyle modifications as in the Seventh Joint National Committee guideline, the Eighth Joint National Committee endorsed the recommendations of the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology 2013 Lifestyle Work Group. The Lifestyle Work Group report included systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials or controlled clinical trials from 2001 through 2011 of "fair to good" quality. In total, 11 reviews qualified for inclusion in the report, 6 of which included blood pressure (BP) as the primary outcome. Three reviews did not find significant reductions in BP, and BP status was not reported in 5. When BP was reported, only 22% of the patients had hypertension. Yet, the group concluded with a strength of evidence categorized as "high" that aerobic exercise training reduces BP by 1 to 5 mm Hg in individuals with hypertension and that the most effective exercise interventions on average included aerobic physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity for at least 12 weeks, 3 to 4 sessions per week lasting 40 minutes per session. The exercise prescription recommendations of the Lifestyle Work Group deviate from those of other professional organizations and committees including the Seventh Joint National Committee, another American Heart Association scientific statement, the American College of Sports Medicine, the European Society of Hypertension/European Society of Cardiology, and the Canadian Health Education Program. The purposes of this review are to present the existing exercise recommendations for hypertension, discuss reasons for differences in these recommendations, discuss gaps in the literature, and address critical future research needs regarding exercise prescription for hypertension.