Central blood pressure is a predictor of the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the effects of resistance training (RT) on central blood pressure are largely unknown. This study explored the effects of high-intensity RT on central blood pressure, indices of arterial stiffness and wave reflection and inflammatory/atherogenic markers in overweight or obese, sedentary young men. Thirty-six participants were randomized to RT (12 weeks of training, 3/wk, n = 28) or control groups (C, 12 weeks of no training, n = 8) and assessed for changes in central and brachial blood pressures, augmentation index (AIx), carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), body composition, lipids and inflammatory/atherogenic markers. High-intensity RT resulted in decreased central and brachial systolic/diastolic blood pressures (all p < 0.03), despite not altering AIx (p = 0.34) or cfPWV (p = 0.43). The vascular endothelial growth factor increased (p = 0.03) after RT, without any change in cIMT, c-reactive protein, oxidized LDL (oxLDL) or other inflammatory markers (all p > 0.1). Changes in the central systolic blood pressure (cSBP) were positively correlated with changes in oxLDL (r = 0.42, p = 0.03) and soluble E-selectin (r = 0.41, p = 0.04). In overweight/obese young men, high-intensity RT decreases cSBP, independently of weight loss and changes in arterial stiffness. The cardioprotective effects of RT may be related to effects on central blood pressure.
Reprinted by permission from Journal of Human Hypertension, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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