Amlodipine reduces blood pressure during dynamic resistance exercise in hypertensive patients.

This study investigated the effect of the dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, amlodipine, on blood pressure (BP) during resistance exercise performed at different intensities in hypertensives. Eleven hypertensives underwent 4 weeks of placebo and amlodipine (random double-blinded crossover design). In each phase, they performed knee extension exercise until exhaustion following three protocols: one set at 100% of 1 RM (repetition maximum), three sets at 80% of 1 RM, and three sets at 40% of 1 RM. Intraarterial BP was measured before and during exercise. Amlodipine reduced maximal systolic/diastolic BP values achieved at all intensities (100% = 225 ± 6/141 ± 3 vs. 207 ± 6/130 ± 6 mmHg; 80% = 289 ± 8/178 ± 5 vs. 273 ± 10/169 ± 6 mmHg; 40% = 289 ± 10/176 ± 8 vs. 271 ± 11/154 ± 6 mmHg). Amlodipine blunted the increase in diastolic BP that occurred during the second and third sets of exercise at 40% of 1RM (+75 ± 6 vs. +61 ± 5 mmHg and +78 ± 7 vs. +64 ± 5 mmHg, respectively). Amlodipine was effective in reducing the absolute values of systolic and diastolic BP during resistance exercise and in preventing the progressive increase in diastolic BP that occurs over sets of low-intensity exercise. These results suggest that systemic vascular resistance is involved in BP increase during resistance exercise, and imply that hypertensives receiving amlodipine are at lower risk of increased BP during resistance exercise than non-medicated patients.

Finger blood pressure during leg resistance exercise.

Blood pressure (BP) assessment during resistance exercise can be useful to avoid high BP, reducing cardiovascular risk, especially in hypertensive individuals. However, non-invasive accurate technique for this purpose is not available. The aim of this study was to compare finger photoplethysmographic (FPP) and intra-arterial BP values and responses during resistance exercise. Eight non-medicated hypertensive subjects (5 males, 30-60 years) were evaluated during pre-exercise resting period and during three sets of the knee extension exercise performed at 80% of 1RM until fatigue. BP was measured simultaneously by FPP and intra-arterial methods. Data are mean+/-SD. Systolic BP was significantly higher with FPP than with intra-arterial: at pre-exercise (157+/-13 vs. 152+/-10 mmHg; p<0.01) and the mean (202+/-29 vs. 198+/-26 mmHg; p<0.01), and the maximal (240+/-26 vs. 234+/-16 mmHg; p<0.05) values achieved during exercise. The increase in systolic BP during resistance exercise was similar between FPP and intra-arterial (+73+/-29 vs. +71+/-18 mmHg; p=0.59). Diastolic BP values and increases were lower with FPP. In conclusion, FPP provides similar values of BP increment during resistance exercise than intra-arterial method. However, it overestimates by 2.6+/-6.1% the maximal systolic BP achieved during this mode of exercise and underestimates by 8.8+/-5.8% the maximal diastolic BP.