Postexercise hypotensive response in stroke patients following acute moderate or high intensity cycling session

Hypertension is highly prevalent in stroke patients and reducing blood pressure is a priority. Aerobic exercise is known to induce postexercise hypotensive responses, but limited studies have documented this concept in stroke patients. The purpose was to investigate the effect of a single bout of moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on postexercise ambulatory blood pressure with patients with prior ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Ten hypertensive adults (mean age: 70±9 years) with prior ischemic stroke or TIA participated using a randomized crossover design. Ambulatory blood pressure was monitored for up to 8 hours after either ergocycle MICT or HIIT of respectively 50% and 95% of peak power output. Blood pressure was compared to pre-exercise resting measure.

HIIT and MICT induced a decrease of systolic blood pressure of -11.0±9.2 mmHg and -4.7±4.5 mmHg respectively (P=0.03) immediately after the exercise. Ambulatory systolic blood pressure showed a steady linear increase (R²⁼0.90; P<0.001) of ~1.2 mmHg/hour and returned to pre-exercise measure after 8 hours. Effect of the two exercise conditions over time did not significantly differ (P=0.278). Diastolic blood pressure was not affected by both exercises.

Those results suggest that HIIT induce a systolic blood pressure reduction of greater magnitude than MICT immediately after cycling exercise among patients with prior ischemic stroke or TIA. For both exercises, effects on ambulatory blood pressure are similar and persist up to 8 hours.