# Daily Movement Matters: Post-Exercise Hypotension in Peripheral Arterial Disease—A Quasi-Experimental Pilot Study

## TL;DR

This study finds that a single session of combined walking and resistance training lowers blood pressure in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

## Contribution

The study is the first to investigate the combined acute effects of walking and resistance training on blood pressure in PAD patients.

## Key findings

- Clinic systolic blood pressure decreased by 4.87 mmHg after each exercise session.
- Clinic diastolic blood pressure decreased by 2.11 mmHg after each exercise session.
- No additional blood pressure reductions were observed between early and late stages of the training.

## Abstract

Background: Aerobic and resistance training have acute effects on blood pressure (BP) in peripheral arterial disease (PAD). However, the combined effect of both exercises in a single session is still unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of a single exercise session combining walking and circuit-based training on BP in patients with PAD. Methods: Participants with PAD (n = 13; 65.0 ± 10.2 years; 76.9% male) underwent a supervised exercise therapy (SET) intervention (312 sessions, 24 sessions/patient) that included 15–30 min of walking, followed by 15 min circuit-based training. Clinic systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) were recorded 5 min before and after each exercise session. Longitudinal changes were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and categorical changes in blood pressure levels were evaluated with chi-square tests. Results: After each exercise session, clinic SBP decreased 4.87 mmHg (p < 0.001) and clinic DBP decreased 2.11 mmHg (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there were no differences between the initial stage of training (1–10 sessions) and late (14–24 sessions) for each time that SBD or DBP were measured. Conclusions: After an acute exercise session, both clinical SBP and DBP decreased in patients with PAD compared to pre-exercise values. However, no additional reductions in clinical BP were observed when comparing early (sessions 1–10) and late (sessions 14–24) stages of the full SET intervention.