The effects of a six-week, low-intensity Nautilus circuit training program on resting blood pressure in females

Twenty-six healthy, untrained females were studied to determine the effects of a low-intensity Nautilus circuit training program on resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Thirteen subjects who were in good health with no personal history or family history of cardiovascular disease participated in a six-week training program on the Nautilus circuit (14 exercises) and trained at 30% of maximum. Measurements in blood pressure were made before, during (three times per week) and after the study. Another group of 13 females served as controls. An attempt was made to determine if strength increase (due to circuit training) would have an affect on reducing resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The following changes occurred in the treatment group: (1) resting systolic blood pressure dropped significantly (from 113 to 99 mmHg) after training and (2) diastolic blood pressure dropped significantly from (70.9 to 62.0 mmHg) after training. However, there were no differences in these decreases between the exercise and control groups. The investigators concluded that low-intensity, resistive training should not increase blood pressure in white, healthy females, ages 18 to 28 years.