Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society Vol. 18, No. 9, pp. 000/000 DOI: 10.1097/gme.0b013e3182135442 * 2011 by The North American Menopause Society
Combined resistance and endurance exercise training improves arterial stiffness, blood pressure, and muscle strength in postmenopausal women Arturo Figueroa, MD, PhD,1 Song Y. Park, MS,1,2 Dae Y. Seo, MS,2 Marcos A. Sanchez-Gonzalez, MD,1 and Yeong H. Baek, PhD2 Abstract Objective: Menopause is associated with increased arterial stiffness and reduced muscle strength. Combined resistance (RE) and endurance (EE) exercise training can decrease brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), an index of arterial stiffness, in young men. We tested the hypothesis that combined circuit RE and EE training would improve baPWV, blood pressure (BP), and muscle strength in postmenopausal women. Methods: Twenty-four postmenopausal women (age 47-68 y) were randomly assigned to a Bno exercise[ control (n = 12) or to combined exercise training (EX; n = 12) group. The EX group performed concurrent circuit RE training followed by EE training at 60% of the predicted maximal heart rate (HR) 3 days per week. Brachial systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, baPWV, HR, and dynamic and isometric muscle strength were measured before and after the 12-week study. Results: Mean T SE baPWV (j0.8 T 0.2 meters/s), systolic BP (j6.0 T 1.9 mm Hg), diastolic BP (j4.8 T 1.7 mm Hg), HR (j4.0 T 1.0 beats/min), and mean arterial pressure (j5.1 T 1.6 mm Hg) decreased (P G 0.05), whereas dynamic leg strength (5.1 T 1.0 vs 0.6 T 1.0 kg for the EX and control groups, respectively) and isometric handgrip strength (2.8 T 0.7 vs j0.6 T 1.2 kg) increased (P G 0.05) in the EX group but not in the control group. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that a 12-week moderate-intensity combined circuit RE and EE training improves arterial stiffness, hemodynamics, and muscle strength in previously sedentary postmenopausal women. This study provides evidence that combined training may have important health implications for the prevention of hypertension and frailty in postmenopausal women. Key Words: Arterial stiffness Y Hemodynamics Y Menopause Y Muscle strength Y Resistance exercise training Y Endurance exercise training.
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enopause influences an age-related increase in arterial stiffness1 and a decrease in muscle strength.2 In postmenopausal women, brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), an index of systemic arterial stiffness, has been associated with high blood pressure (BP)1,3 and sarcopenia,4 the age-related loss of muscle strength and mass. Recent studies have indicated that increased isometric and dynamic muscle strength may have a protective effect against arterial stiffness,5 hypertension,6 and cardiovascular diseases.7 The deleterious changes in arterial and muscular function seem to be associated with estrogen deficiency in early postmenopausal
Received November 30, 2010; revised and accepted January 31, 2011. From the 1Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, College of Human Sciences, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL; and 2 Department of Physical Education, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea. Funding/support: None reported. Financial disclosure/conflicts of interest: None reported. Reprints will not be available. Address correspondence to: Yeong H. Baek, PhD, Department of Physical Education, Pusan National University, Busan 609-753, South Korea. E-mail:
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women.1,2 However, hormone therapy has failed to increase muscle strength in postmenopausal women.2 In contrast, exercise training has been shown to be an effective means of improving reduced muscle strength,8 elevated BP,9,10 and arterial stiffness11 associated with sedentary aging. Conventional resistance exercise training is characterized by long resting intervals (2-3 min) between sets and exercises. Resistance exercise training at moderate- to high-intensity is recommended to increase muscle strength and mass in older adults.8,12 However, it has been shown that high-intensity resistance training may increase arterial stiffness in young13
