Aftereffects of Exercise on Regional and Systemic Hemodynamics in Hypertension

Several studies have indicated that a single bout of physical exercise induced a significant antihypertensive effect during the hours after the activity. However, little information is presently available on the underlying hemodynamic changes. We examined 13 essential hypertensive patients and nine nonnotensive subjects in a randomized, crossover study design during 3 hours after a 30-minute period of upright leg cycling at 50% of peak aerobic capacity and during 3 hours after a 30-minute control period of rest Blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance, and regional vascular resistance in the forearm as well as venous plasma catecholamine concentrations were measured repeatedly. After exercise, systolic (−11±2 mm Hg) and diastolic (−4±1 mm Hg) blood pressures, total peripheral resistance (−27±5%), forearm vascular resistance (−25±6%), and plasma norepinephrine levels (−21±7%) were significantly (p