Effect of rest interval between circuit resistance exercises on post-exercise blood pressure reduction in healthy young females

Recently، acute training and exercises have been recommended as a non-pharmacological and less expensive treatment of hypertension. For this reason، the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rest interval (RI) between circuit resistance exercises (CRE) on post-exercise blood pressure reduction. Eleven normotensive females (aged 21. 3 ± 1. 3 yrs، height 163. 5 ± 5. 9 cm and weight 57. 5 ± 8. 9 kg) performed two CRE with RI of 30 (RI30s) and 40 (RI40s) seconds between the exercises randomly. In the exercise sessions، subjects performed 3 circuits of 6 exercises with 10 repetition maximum (10RM) and 2 minutes rest between circuits. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were measured before exercise and at intervals of 10 min for 60 min after exercise. In comparison of rest values، reduction of SBP observed after CRE with RI30s (at R20، R30، R40، R50 and R60) and RI40s (at R30، R40، R50 and R60)، whereas reduction of DBP observed only after CRE with RI30s at R60 (p≤0. 05). Also، there was no significant difference between exercise trials in pre and post-exercise levels of SBP and DBP. It can be concluded that CRE with different rest intervals between the exercises may have beneficial effects on health and can lead to occurrence of blood pressure reduction similarly in magnitude and duration.