Effects of exercise intensity and creatine loading on post-resistance exercise hypotension

Abstract

Postexercise hypotension plays an important role in the non-pharmacological treat-ment of hypertension and is characterized by a decrease in blood pressure after a single exercise bout in relation to pre-exercise levels. This study investigated the effects of exercise intensity and creatine monohydrate supplementation on postexercise hypotension, as well as the possible role of blood lactate in this response. Ten normotensive subjects underwent resistance exercise sessions before (BC) and after (AC) creatine supplementation: 1) muscle endurance (ME) consisting of 30 repetitions at 30% of one-repetition maximum; 2) hypertrophy (HP) consisting of 8 repetitions at 75% of one-repetition maximum. Blood pressure was measured before and after the exercise bout. Blood lactate was measured after the exercise bout. The HP and ME sessions promoted a decrease in systolic blood pressure (? -19 ± 1.0 mmHg; ? -15 ± 0.9 mmHg, respectively, P< 0.05), which was attenuated after creatine supplementation (? -7.1 ± 1.0 mmHg; ? -11 ± 1.0 mmHg, respectively, P<0.05). Peak blood lactate was attenuated after creatine supplementation in the HP session (BC: 19 ± 0.4 mM; AC: 15 ± 0.4 mM, P< 0.05) and remained unchanged after creatine supplementation in the ME session (BC: 16 ± 0.8 mM; AC: 14 ± 0.4 mM, P> 0.05). In conclusion, resistance exercise intensity did not influence postexercise hypotension. Creatine supplementation attenuated the decrease in blood pressure after resistance exercise. The results suggest the involvement of blood lactate in post-resistance exercise hypotension.