Acute effects of aerobic exercise duration on blood pressure, pulse wave velocity and cerebral blood flow velocity in middle-aged adults

It is important to understand acute dose-response relationships on cardiovascular health and brain health. Thus, we evaluated the acute effects of 10- and 30-min exercise bout on blood pressure (BP), pulse wave velocity (PWV) and cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv). Fifteen adults (mean age 45.4 ± 8.9 years, 87% female) participated in this randomized crossover study comprised of three acute experimental sessions: a 10-min exercise bout (EX10), a 30-min exercise bout (EX30) and a sitting control (SIT). Exercise consisted of walking on a treadmill at 70–75% of age-predicted maximum heart rate. BP, PWV and CBFv were measured 30 and 60 min after each experimental session. BP was obtained at the brachial artery while PWV was measured at the carotid-femoral and carotid-radial sites. CBFv was measured at the middle cerebral artery using a 2 MHz transcranial Doppler. Compared to SIT, BP was lower following EX10, and even lower following EX30 (P 0.05), EX10 resulted in a higher carotid-femoral PWV vs. EX30 and SIT at 30 min (both P = 0.02) and a lower carotid-radial PWV vs. SIT at 60 min (P = 0.004). CBFv did not differ across conditions (all P > 0.05). Our results suggest that 10- and 30-min aerobic exercise bouts have differential effects on BP and PWV. CBFv did not change in the hour following either bout. Further research is needed to elucidate the mechanisms and effects of 10- vs 30-min bouts of exercise.