The influence of endurance training on the transient haemodynamic response to orthostatic manoeuvre

Several investigations demonstrated that aerobic fitness is associated with a tendency towards orthostatic hypotension whereas other reports did not show any differences in cardiovascular adjustment to orthostatic challenges between endurance trained and sedentary subjects. In the present work, the time course of changes in heart rate (HR), systolic time intervals (STI), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and blood pressure was studied during 8 minutes following standing up from supine position in 7 healthy volunteers before and after 10 weeks of endurance training on bicycle ergometer. Impedance cardiography was used for measurement of cardiac postural responses. The training program applied in this study increased the subjects' aerobic capacity (VO2max) by approx. 18%. After training, the steady-state supine HR and contribution of the pre-ejection period and ejection time to the total R-R interval in ECG were lowered while SV was significantly increased. No significant training-induced changes were found in magnitude and time-courses of HR, STI, SV and CO changes following standing up. Diastolic blood pressure during standing was greater after than before training. It is concluded that the short-time endurance training does not affect adversely cardiovascular orthostatic response and may even improve orthostatic tolerance due to the augmentation of diastolic blood pressure response.