BACKGROUND: Essential hypertension (EP) is characterized by blood pressure (BP) elevations, which often lead to target organ damage and cardiovascular illness. The following study investigates whether aerobic exercise programs with different intensities could reduce the magnitude of BP rise. METHODS: Patients with essential hypertension were recruited from the Baoshan Community Health Service Center. A total of 46 patients were finally selected and randomly assigned into two groups: control group (CON) included patients who did not participate in exercise intervention training; treatment group (TRG) included patients who participated in 12-week brisk walking training (60-min of brisk walking, three times a week for a total of 12 weeks). 3-minute step tests of low and high intensity were conducted pre- and post-intervention. To compare the effects of exercise intervention, 23 subjects with normal blood pressure (NBP) who did not participate in 12-week brisk walking training, were recruited. RESULTS: After 12 weeks of brisk walking, SBP of TRG during resting, low and high-intensity exercise was significantly reduced by 8.3 mmHg, 15.6 mmHg, and 22.6 mmHg, respectively; while HR of TRG's during resting, low and high intensity was significantly reduced by 3.6 beats/minute, 8.7 beats/minute and 11.3 beats/minute, respectively. Meanwhile, after 12 weeks of brisk walking, TRG's steps per day, VO2max, moderate physical activity time and physical activity energy expenditure significantly increased by 6,000 steps, 2.4 ml/kg/m, 40 minutes and 113 kcal, respectively. At the same time, TRG's body fat rate and sedentary time significantly reduced by 2% and 60 minutes per day. CONCLUSION: Brisk walking can reduce the magnitude of BP rise during exercise of different intensities and may be reduced the risk of acute cardiovascular incidents in elderly patients with essential hypertension.

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