CARDIOVASCULAR AND STRENGTH ADAPTATIONS IN CONCURRENT TRAINING IN HYPERTENSIVE WOMEN

ABSTRACT Introduction Physical exercise has been recommended as a non-pharmacological strategy for preventing and controlling hypertension. Objective To verify chronic cardiovascular and muscle strength adaptations in hypertensive women who underwent 12 weeks of concurrent training (CT) in different orders. Methods Twenty hypertensive women were randomly assigned into 2 groups: resistance exercise-endurance group (REE; 56.00 ± 5.20 years; 78.95 ± 8.28 kg; 155.10 ± 5.30 cm; 33.00 ± 5.30 kg.m-2) and endurance-resistance exercise group (ERE; 57.10 ± 13.38 years; 76.56 ± 18.87 kg; 155.50 ± 8.18 cm; 31.41 ± 5.84 kg.m-2). The endurance exercise was composed of 3 sets of 4 exercises, with 8-RM loads with a 90-second break between sets and exercises. The resistance exercise lasted for 25 minutes and was of progressive intensity. Muscle strength (8-RM), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and double product were assessed pre- and post-exercise. Results The ANOVA showed significant increases in strength for all exercises (p