Effects of resistance exercise training on resting and post-exercise forearm blood flow and wave reflection in overweight and obese women

The vascular responses to acute resistance exercise and resistance exercise training (RET) in overweight women are unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the vasodilatory and wave reflection responses to acute resistance exercise before and after RET. In all, 24 overweight/obese (28.5±0.6 kg m 2) women (44±1 years of age) volunteered for this study. Forearm blood flow (FBF), vasodilatory capacity in response to reactive hyperemia (peak FBF) and wave reflection (radial tonometry) were measured, before and 15 min after five sets of leg press at 10-repetition maximum (RM). Measures of pulse wave reflection included the augmentation index (AIx) and the time of the reflected wave (Tr). Measurements were collected at baseline, after a 4-week control period (before RET) and after 12 weeks of whole-body RET using three sets of five exercises at 50-60% of 1-RM. There were no differences in vascular measurements at baseline or before RET for any variable. Resting FBF (66.7%) and peak FBF (51.6%) increased significantly (P<0.05) after RET compared with before RET. Post-exercise FBF (48.9%) and peak FBF (41.1%) also increased significantly (P<0.05) after RET compared with before RET. Post-exercise AIx decreased significantly (P<0.05), whereas Tr increased significantly (P<0.05) compared with rest at all time points. However, AIx and Tr were unaltered by RET. The 12-week whole-body RET increased the resting and post-exercise FBF as well as vasodilatory capacity without changing wave reflection in premenopausal overweight women. RET may be an important non-pharmacological therapy for reducing cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese premenopausal women.