Interindividual Variability Response to Resistance and High-Intensity Interval Training on Blood Pressure Reduction in Hypertensive Older Adults
Question
How do low-volume resistance training and HIIT affect systolic and diastolic blood pressure, responder status, and blood-pressure category distribution in hypertensive older adults?
Summary
This randomized trial compared low-volume resistance training, low-volume cycling HIIT, and usual pharmacological care in physically inactive older adults with hypertension. HIIT used 30-minute sessions, three times per week for 8 weeks, with 8-10 one-minute hard cycling intervals and two-minute active rests. Both resistance training and HIIT lowered systolic blood pressure, but not diastolic blood pressure, and both reduced the proportion of non-responders over time. HIIT also shifted some participants from worse blood-pressure categories toward normal or lower-risk categories.
Methodology
- Physically inactive hypertensive older adults with BMI 25-39.9 kg/m2 and pharmacological treatment.
- 39 participants.
- Cycle ergometer.
- Work intervals: 1 minute at modified Borg 8-10.
- Recovery: 2 minutes active rest.
- Intensity: Borg 8-10, progressed by resistance if below Borg 8.
- 30 minutes average including warm-up and cool-down.
- 3 sessions per week.
- 8 weeks.
- Randomized clinical trial with resistance training, HIIT, and control groups.
- Systolic blood pressure, Diastolic blood pressure, Responder status, and Blood-pressure category distribution were tracked.
Outcomes
Systolic blood pressure
HIIT and RT significantly improved SBP by week 8, with average reductions around 12-13 mmHg discussed by authors.
HIIT week 8 p = 0.0005, d = 0.8; RT week 8 p = 0.015, d = 1.12; time effect F = 7.562, p = 0.001.
Diastolic blood pressure
DBP did not significantly change by group, time, or group-by-time interaction.
Group F = 0.722, p = 0.493; time F = 1.803, p = 0.172; group x time F = 0.108, p = 0.979.
Non-responder prevalence
Non-responder prevalence decreased in HIIT for SBP from 69% at week 4 to 46% at week 8 and for DBP from 69% to 38%.
Reported in Table 3 narrative.
Blood-pressure category
In HIIT, normal BP increased from 8% to 23%, HTN stage 1 decreased from 38% to 23%, and HTN stage 2 decreased from 46% to 23%.
Reported in Table 4 narrative.
Insights
- For hypertensive older adults, HIIT can use RPE-based one-minute cycling intervals rather than all-out sprints.
- Eight weeks may reduce apparent non-response compared with four weeks.
- Blood-pressure benefits may be systolic-specific; do not promise DBP reductions from this study.
- Medication-managed users require BP monitoring as exercise lowers pressure.
Limitations
- Small clinical sample.
- Convenience recruitment.
- Medication co-treatment complicates attribution.
- Actual adverse events and exact attrition were not clearly extracted from visible text.
- Requires supervision and monitoring.
Safety
- HR and BP were measured before and after every session.
- Sessions were to be suspended if SBP > 180 mmHg or DBP > 110 mmHg.
- Adverse event counts were not visible in extracted result sections.