The Effect of Age and Gender on Blood Pressure Recovery after Exhaustive Exercise in Non-Athletic Healthy Males and Females

This study investigated whether age and gender influenced blood pressure recovery after exhaustive exercise in non-athletic males and females. 60 healthy (blood pressure was especially considered) men and women with no drug and supplement consumption participated in this study and were divided into six groups: 20-30 yr (10 males), 20-30 yr (10 females), 30-40 yr (10 males), 30-40 yr (10 females), 40-50 yr (10 males) and 40-50 yr (10 females). Immediately before the test, subjects’ heart rate and blood pressure was measured twice (after 10 and 15 min. rest) in a sitting position on an ergometer. During the test, heart rate and blood pressure was measured by a blood pressure instrument with a 2-min. interval. The testing protocol started with 3-min. warm-up at a work load of 50 W on the ergometer followed by a step-by-step increase in work load by 20 W each minute until the subjects reached exhaustion. Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) were measured in the first minute of after the exercise and subsequently each two minutes until these two variables reached their pretest amount. To compare data among the groups, independent sample t test and to determine the effect of gender and age on BP recovery, ANOVA analysis of variance with repeated measures were used. All statistics were analyzed using SPSS (Version 16.0) (P<0.05). Results showed no significant difference in BP recovery among three groups of females (P>0.05) while there was a significant difference in BP recovery among three groups of males (P≤0.05). Also, there was a significant difference in BP recovery between males and females in all three age groups (P≤0.05). It can be concluded that as the effect of gender on BP recovery was observed after a session of exhaustive exercise, coaches and physicians are recommended to consider this finding in non-athletes’ activities and performance.