Influence of Acute Concurrent Exercise Performed in Public Fitness Facilities on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Among Older Adults in Rio de Janeiro City.

The project "Third-Age Academies'" (TAAs) is a public policy providing supervised physical activities to over 40,000 seniors at open-access facilities (squares etc.) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We investigated whether TAA concurrent exercise circuit induced postexercise hypotension (PEH) in individuals older than 60 years. Blood pressure (BP) was measured by 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) after counterbalanced CEX and nonexercise (CONT) sessions (n = 16; 66.8 +/- 1.4 years; systolic/diastolic BP (SBP/DBP): 132.5 +/- 4.3/78.0 +/- 2.8 mm Hg). For statistical analyses purposes, groups were divided as exhibiting normal SBP (=120 mm Hg) or high SBP (>120 mm Hg), based on 24-hour ABPM after CONT. The CEX included 2 aerobic and 9 resistance exercises performed alternately in circuit order (40 minutes at 60-70% heart rate reserve using body mass or fixed loads). 24-hour ambulatory BP monitoring lowered in individuals with high BP (n = 11; medicated = 5) (SBP: -6.5 +/- 1.9 mm Hg; mean arterial pressure [MAP]: -4.3 +/- 1.5 mm Hg; p < 0.015), particularly within the first 5-6 hours after exercise (SBP: -13.5 +/- 2.6 mm Hg; DBP: -9.4 +/- 2.2 mm Hg; and MAP: -11.4 +/- 1.6 mm Hg, p < 0.05). Significant BP lowering was not detected among participants with normal BP (n = 5; medicated = 4). In conclusion, CEX provoked PEH in older adults with prehypertension to established hypertension. Because of the potential of TAAs to reach large numbers of older adults, our findings are encouraging and should be confirmed in subsequent studies.