INTRODUCTION: Hypertension is a cardiovascular disorder which occurs in approximately one billion individuals worldwide and represents an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. OBJECTIVE: Compare the cardiovascular responses during recovery after two protocols of circuit resistance exercises (CRE) with different rest intervals (RI). Twelve normotensive females (aged 21.3 ± 1.3, yrs; height 163.5 ± 5.9 cm and weight 57.5 ± 8.9 kg) performed two CRE with RI of 30 (RI30s) and 40 (RI40s) seconds between the exercises, randomly. METHODS: The protocols consisted of three circuits of six exercises with 10 repetition maximum (10RM) and 2 minute rest between circuits, followed by a 60 minute recovery period. Measurements were taken before exercise, at the end of last exercise (R1) and each 10 min of post-exercise recovery (R10, R20, R30, R40, R50 and R60). The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Repeated Measures (group × time) was used to analyze of data, followed by post-hoc Bonferroni test, for p≤0.05. RESULTS: In comparison of rest values, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR) and rate pressure product (RPP) at R1 after exercise trials with RI30s and RI40s increased significantly. Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) of SBP was observed after CRE with RI30s (at R20, R30, R40, R50 and R60) and RI40s (at R30, R40, R50 and R60), whereas PEH of DBP observed only after CRE with RI30s at R60. Except for time after CRE with RI30s at R10, no significant change of HR was observed in all measured moments during recovery period of trials. RPP returned to the rest values after exercise trials at R10 and then decreased significantly after CRE with RI30s at R60 and after CRE with RI40s at R40, R50 and R60. CONCLUSION: In all measured moments, there were no significant differences between experimental sessions in post-exercise levels of SBP, DBP, HR and RPP. In conclusion, CRE with RI30s and RI40s between the exercises can lead to occurrence of PEH similarly in magnitude and duration and approximately provides same cardiovascular responses after exercise. Our findings suggest a potentially positive health benefit of strength training.
post-exercise hypotension; systolic blood pressure; diastolic blood pressure; heart rate; rate pressure product
