PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 8-week aerobic exercise and polyphenol intake on body composition, cardiovascular response, vascular endothelial function, and physical fitness at rest and during exercise in prehypertensive men. METHODS The study included twenty-eight males in their 20-30 years of age with prehypertension. Participants in the aerobic exercise + polyphenol intake group (EX + PP; n = 14) performed aerobic exercise three sessions/week, 30 min/session, at 65% of the heart rate reserve, and consumed polyphenol (grape seed extract 300 mg) for 8 weeks. Participants in the aerobic exercise + placebo intake group (EX + PL; n = 14) performed the same aerobic exercise; however, they consumed placebo instead of polyphenol. All independent variables were measured at pre-test and post-test, and the data were analyzed. RESULTS The main results of the study were as follows: 1) SBP and MAP at rest decreased significantly in EX + PP, while MAP decreased significantly in EX + PL group. 2) In the EX + PP group, CO increased significantly, whereas DBP, MAP, and TPR decreased significantly during the hand grip exercise. In contrast, CO decreased significantly, while DBP and TPR increased significantly in the EX + PL group during the hand grip exercise. 3) Regarding vascular endothelial function, % FMD increased significantly in EX + PP group. 4) Sit-up increased significantly in both EX + PP and EX + PL groups; however, sit-and-reach in EX + PP group was significantly higher than that in EX + PL group at post-test. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study showed that the 8-week aerobic exercise would have positive effects on body composition, cardiovascular response, and physical fitness at rest and during exercise in hypertensive men. Additionally, polyphenol intake would contribute more towards reduction of blood pressure at rest and during exercise and improvement of vascular endothelial function.
Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a 10-week aerobic exercise training on cardiovascular function, atherosclerosis, and vascular endothelial function in elderly women. Methods Twenty impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and normoglycemic elderly women volunteered to participate in the study. The participants in aerobic exercise training group (TR: n=9) completed 20-40 minutes of aerobic exercise program at 30-50% HRR for 3 times per week during 10 weeks. The participants in control group (CON: n=11) were asked to maintain their normal life pattern during the same intervention period. Results Main results of the study were as follows: 1) There were no significant main effect or interaction in body weight, fat-free mass, fat mass, percent body fat, and body mass index. 2) There were no significant main effect or interaction in heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, total peripheral resistance (TPR), systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, pulse pressure, and rate pressure product. However, interaction between group and test in TPR was close to statistically significant level (P =.054), and it tended to be decreased in TR group. 3) There was a significant main effect of test in high sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP), it tended to be decreased in TR group. There were no significant changes in total cholesterol(TC)/high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio, triglyceride/HDL-C ratio, and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol/HDL-C ratio. 4) There were significant main effect of group, main effect of test, as well as interaction between group and test in % flow mediated dilation(FMD), and it increased significantly (P<.01) in TR group. Nitric oxide tended to be increased in TR group, even though it did not change significantly in both groups. Conclusions It was concluded that the 10-week aerobic exercise training would be beneficial for improvement of vascular endothelial function, resulting from the decrement of total peripheral resistance.
