Background: Post-exercise hypotension (PEH) denotes a physiological fall in blood pressure (BP) from resting value after exercise. It is mainly due to decrease in sympathetic outflow after exercise. As obese individuals are known to have high basal sympathetic tone, we wanted to find a correlation between obesity and the time taken to attain maximum PEH.
Aim and Objective: The aim of the study was to compare the time taken to attain maximum PEH between healthy adult males with normal body mass index (BMI) with those with above-normal BMI.
Materials and Methods: Sixty healthy, young male participants with normal BMI (18.524.9) and BMI above >25 kg/mt2 (n = 30 in each group) were recruited. The resting heart rate and BP were recorded. Then, the participants were made to walk on a treadmill at 50% of their VO2 max for 20 min. BP was recorded at 5-min intervals for 30 min.
Results: The time taken to attain maximum systolic PEH was significantly lesser (P < 0.01) in the normal BMI group (Median=20 vs. 25 min) than the higher BMI group. However, the time taken to attain maximum diastolic PEH was comparable between the groups. Spearman correlation test revealed a significant positive correlation between BMI and time taken to attain maximum fall in systolic BP after exercise (r = 0.52, P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Therefore, it is concluded that as BMI increases the time taken to attain maximum systolic PEH also increases. Hence, when devising an exercise regimen, the BMI must be taken into consideration to attain maximum benefit.
Key words: Post-exercise Hypotension; Body Mass Index; Blood Pressure; Exercise; Time
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