Energy demand in an active videogame session and the potential to promote hypotension after exercise in hypertensive women

The aim of this study was to determine the energy demand of one session of active video game (AVG) and its potential to reduce blood pressure (BP). Fourteen hypertensive (56.4±7.5 years) individuals performed sessions of AVG, a traditional sedentary video game sessions (SVG) and walking (WAL), as negative and positive controls, in a randomly determined order. Oxygen consumption and energy expenditure (EE) were measured during sessions. BP and cardiac autonomic modulation (CAM) were measured at rest and every 15 minutes of a 60-minute period of recovery from activities. A rating of enjoyment scale was also applied. AVG and WAL resulted in higher oxygen consumption (10.0±0.5 ml/kg/min and 16.6±3.1 ml/kg/min, respectively) and EE (3.5±0.2 kcal/min and 4.2±0.5 kcal/min) compared to 4.1±0.8 ml/kg/min and 1.4±0.1 kcal/min in SVG. A reduction in systolic and diastolic BP was evident following AVG sessions (-11.6±2.5 mmHg and -8.7±2.5 mmHg) and WAL (-10.8±2.8 mmHg and -8.6±2.3 mmHg) compared to pre-experiment value, and the same did not occur in SVG. All sessions promoted a feeling of enjoyment, with no difference between them. The parasympathetic activity was significantly lower at 30 and 45 minutes in post-WAL recovery (34.6±15.0 ms2 and 34.4±16.0 ms2) in the frequency domain (HF) in relation to both AVG (195.5±67.0 ms2 and 164.5±55.0 ms2) and the SVG (158.9±45.0 and 281.3±98.0 ms2). It is concluded that an AVG session promotes increased metabolic activity and is able to promote acute reduction of BP in hypertensive individuals similar to traditional walking exercise.