Different order of combined exercises: acute effects on 24-hour blood pressure in young men

Abstract To verify 24-hour blood pressure (BP) responses in young adults after different orders of aerobic (AE) and resistance exercises (RE). Anaerobic threshold (AT) and strength (12 RM) were evaluated in ten healthy men (22.6 ± 3.7yrs; 70.3 ± 5.8 kg; 175.9 ± 5.8 cm). Four experimental sessions: Aerobic + Resistance (AR); Resistance + Aerobic (RA); Concurrent circuit (CC) and control day (CO) were randomly performed. All sessions had the same duration and intensity, AE: 15 min at 90% of AT; ER: 15 min at 90% of 12 RM with 12 reps (6 exercises). BP was measured before, during and 1 h (Microlife® BP3A1C) after performing exercises in the laboratory and 23 h during daily activities using ambulatory blood pressure measurement (Dyna-MAPA®). Systolic BP (SBP) in 24 h and awake periods, and Diastolic BP (DBP) in 24 h, sleep and awake periods, and Mean BP in awake period were lower in RA session compared with CO session with moderate to high effect size (d de Cohen = -0.46/-0.78). The DBP area under the curve in RA was lower than CO in awake (1004 ± 82 vs. 1065 ± 107; p < 0.047) and 24 h (1456 ± 103 vs. 1528 ± 132; p < 0.026) periods. The SBP delta were lower in RA at 0-1 h (-12.0 mmHg), 2-3h (-16.5 mmHg), 6-7 h (-19.4 mmHg) and 10-11 h (-13.0 mmHg) compared with CO; lower in AR at 4-5h (-19.2 mmHg) and 6-7 h (-20.2 mmHg) compared with CO; and lower in CC at 2-3h (-15.6 mmHg) and 6-7 h (-17.5 mmHg) compared with CO. The DBP was lower at 4-5 h (-14.0 mmHg) in RA compared with CO. After performing RA exercises, there were greater decreases in BP during 24 h in young adults.