We investigated the acute effects of isometric biceps exercise on resting and ambulatory blood pressure in hypertensive adults. A total of 12 medicated hypertensive adults (aged 47 +/- 7 years; body mass index 27.2 +/- 2.7 kg/m2; resting blood pressure 123 +/- 12/74 +/- 6 mmHg) performed an isometric biceps exercise session (bilateral biceps exercise; 4x1 min at 30% of 1-RM, 2 min recovery) and a control session (without exercise) in a randomized order separated by a 7 to 10-day period. Resting blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability indexes (SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, and LF/HF) were measured pre- and up to 30 min post-sessions. Next, ambulatory blood pressure was monitored during 22-hour post-sessions (awake and asleep periods). No significant changes were observed for resting blood pressure, heart rate, or heart rate variability indexes up to 30 min post-sessions (p > 0.05). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed in average ambulatory blood pressure values in 22-hour (126 +/- 11/71 +/- 6 mmHg versus 126 +/- 15/71 +/- 9 mmHg), awake (127 +/- 10/74 +/- 6 mmHg versus 130 +/- 14/75 +/- 10 mmHg), and asleep (123 +/- 15/68 +/- 6 mmHg versus 120 +/- 17/66 +/- 9 mmHg) periods between the control and isometric sessions, respectively (p > 0.05). In conclusion, an isometric biceps exercise session does not elicit an acute antihypertensive effect in adults with hypertension, which suggests that its prescription to improve the acute BP control is limited.

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