Effects of resistance exercise and cycling on recovery blood pressure

The purpose of this investigation was to examine blood pressure responses during recovery from resistance exercise and cycling. Seven normotensive volunteers (5 males, 2 females) were studied. Resistance exercise consisted of three sets of five exercises (arm curl, hamstring curl, squat, 'lat pull' and bench press) on four occasions: (1) twice using 40% one-repetition maximum (1RM) for 20-25 repetitions, and (2) twice using 70% 1RM for 8-10 repetitions. The subjects also cycled for 25 min at 70% of heart rate reserve on two occasions. Measurements of recovery systolic and diastolic blood pressure were made at 2, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 min post-exercise with subjects in the seated position. Analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed that there were no significant differences between recovery blood pressures after the cycling or resistance exercise treatments. Average systolic blood pressure after 2 min of recovery was elevated (115 +/- 2 mmHg, P < 0.0001) and diastolic blood pressure was depressed (48 +/- 3 mmHg, P < 0.0001) in comparison to previously determined baseline values. Systolic blood pressure at 5 min and diastolic blood pressure at 15 min post-exercise were not significantly lower than resting baseline values, and remained so after 60 min of recovery. It was concluded that different intensities of resistance exercise produce the same blood pressure response in recovery and that these changes were approximately equal to those produced by cycling.