Essential hypertension is associated with reduced endothelium-independent vasodilation in the lower extremity that is reversed by exercise training
Hypertension
Both groups (hypertensive and normotensive individuals) trained in high-intensity exercise training 3x/week for 6 weeks. Groups were matched by age and no other diseases than high blood pressure was allowed. Subjects performed exercise training adhering to the 10-20-30 training concept. Exercise training was conducted on cycle ergometers for 2x20 minutes in the first two weeks and 3x28 minutes the following 4 weeks. In short, 10-20-30 training consists of five consecutive 1 min intervals divided into 30, 20, and 10s at an intensity corresponding to ~30%, ~50% and ~100% of maximal intensity, respectively. For the first two weeks of training, subjects completed a 6 min low-intensity warm-up followed by two 5 min bouts interspersed by 3 min of recovery. From week 3, training volume was increased to three 5-min bouts per training session interspersed by 3 min of recovery. Likewise, weekly training sessions were increased from 2 (week 1-2) to 3 (week 3-6). Subjects were instructed to push maximally during the 10-s sprints. The total amount of training planned for each subject was 16 training sessions over the 6-week training intervention comprising forty-four consecutive 5-min bouts or 220 10-second all-out sprints. The participants in HYP and NORM completed 97±5 and 98±4 % of 16 training sessions planned, respectively, during the 6-week intervention period.
1. Age 45-70 years 2. BMI 20-35 kg∙m-2 3. Ambulatory systolic/diastolic blood pressure >140/90 (hypertensive) or <140/90 (normotensive) 4. <2 h of physical activity per week 5. HbA1c <6.5% and <48 mM
1. Irregular resting ECG 2. History of cardiac symptoms during exercise 3. Chronic diseases other than essential hypertension 4. Use of medication other than anti-hypertensive drugs 5. Inability to perform physical exercise