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Effect of fractionized vs continuous, single-session exercise on blood pressure in adults

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 24, pages 300–302 (2010)Cite this article

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Exercise training-induced reduction in blood pressure (BP) 1 may be in part due to the BP lowering effects of acute exercise (postexercise hypotension, PEH). 2 PEH has been reported to be ∼7–14 mm Hg, can occur within 5 min after exercise, and may persist for up to 22 h. 2, 3

Exercise sessions as short as 10 min can produce PEH.2, 4, 5 This may have important clinical application for exercise prescription, especially for individuals with time constraints that preclude engaging in traditional, longer exercise sessions (for example, 30–40 min). In addition, fractionized exercise may provide a means to capitalize on the benefits of an acute bout of exercise, even if relatively short (for example, ⩽10 min), multiple times per day.6 Park et al.4 reported that in prehypertensive adults, four 10-min exercise sessions performed at 1 h intervals, starting at 0930 hours, induced similar PEH as compared with a single 40-min exercise session, but that the duration of the PEH was 3–4 h longer after the four 10-min sessions. Park et al.5 also recently reported that PEH for systolic BP (SBP) occurred only after the third 10-min exercise session. In a different design, Jones et al.7 reported that intermittent exercise (three 10-min sessions) produced a greater PEH than did continuous exercise (one 30-min session), but in this study, there were only 10 min of rest between each exercise session.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by National Institutes of Health Grant RR00847 to the University of Virginia General Clinical Research Center.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Healthy Lifestyles Research Center, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, USA

    S S Angadi & G A Gaesser

  2. Exercise and Wellness Program, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, USA

    S S Angadi & G A Gaesser

  3. Department of Human Services, University of Virginia, VA, USA

    A Weltman

  4. General Clinical Research Center, University of Virginia, VA, USA

    A Weltman, D Watson-Winfield, J Weltman & K Frick

  5. Department of Medicine, University of Virginia, VA, USA

    A Weltman

  6. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia, VA, USA

    J Patrie

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  1. S S Angadi
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  2. A Weltman
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Correspondence to G A Gaesser.

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Angadi, S., Weltman, A., Watson-Winfield, D. et al. Effect of fractionized vs continuous, single-session exercise on blood pressure in adults. J Hum Hypertens 24, 300–302 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.110

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