Costa, EC, Kent, DE, Boreskie, KF, Hay, JL, Kehler, DS, Edye-Mazowita, A, Nugent, K, Papadopoulos, J, Stammers, AN, Oldfield, C, Arora, RC, Browne, RAV, and Duhamel, TA. Acute effect of high-intensity interval versus moderate-intensity continuous exercise on blood pressure and arterial compliance in middle-aged and older hypertensive women with increased arterial stiffness. J Strength Cond Res 34(5): 1307–1316, 2020—Hypertension and arterial stiffness are common in middle-aged and older women. This study compared the acute effect of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) on blood pressure (BP) and arterial compliance in middle-aged and older hypertensive women with increased arterial stiffness. Nineteen women (67.6 ± 4.7 years) participated in this randomized controlled crossover trial. Subjects completed a control, MICE (30 minutes at 50–55% of heart rate reserve [HRR]), and HIIE (10 × 1 minute at 80–85% of HRR, 2 minutes at 40–45% of HRR) session in random order. Blood pressure and large and small arterial compliance (radial artery pulse wave analysis) were measured at baseline and 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after sessions. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Systolic BP was reduced in ∼10 mm Hg after MICE at 30 minutes and after HIIE at all time points (30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes) after exercise compared with the control session (p < 0.05). Only HIIE showed lower systolic BP levels at 60, 90, and 120 minutes after exercise compared with the control session (∼10 mm Hg; p < 0.05). No changes were observed in diastolic BP, or in large and small arterial compliance (p > 0.05). High-intensity interval exercise elicited a longer systolic postexercise hypotension than MICE compared with the control condition, despite the absence of acute modifications in large and small arterial compliance.

Introduction The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery recommends pre- and post-operative physical activity (PA). However, there are no effective standardized PA programs incorporating a behavioral change approach for bariatric surgery patients. A novel pre-operative PA intervention ENCOURAGEing Start was developed and piloted to assist patients in reducing barriers to PA and encouraging positive PA habits. Methods This single arm pilot study recruited patients (n=27, BMI = 47.1 ± 6.2) from the Victoria General Hospital’s Centre for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Winnipeg, Manitoba between September 2017 and May 2018. A time-series quasi-experimental design was used. The 16-week intervention took place at the University of Manitoba’s Active Living Centre. The primary outcome was a six-minute walk test (6MW), a measure of functional ability and predictive of post-surgical weight loss and maintenance. Secondary outcomes included fitness, cardiovascular disease risk and mental health. Outcomes were evaluated at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. Results Ten patients completed the intervention. Clinically significant (p≤0.05) differences in the 6MW (457.21 vs 497.58 m, p=0.002), indirect 1RM leg press (283.72 vs 331.60 lb, p<0.001), sit-to-stand (12.78 vs 14.82, p<0.01), and quality of life (181.89 vs 195.96, p=0.028) were identified for completers. Conclusions The ENCOURAGEing Start intervention enhanced markers linked to long-term post-surgery outcomes, including a 10.7% increase in 6MW. This feasible program showed similar effect size to more resource intensive interventions, including those in Canada. A larger study with a minimum of 55 participants should be undertaken to assess the sustainability of these effects.

UNSTRUCTURED Extended bouts of sedentary time are common in the modern working environment. As such, effective interventions are needed to counter the adverse health effects of sitting. We developed a theory-informed, mobile health app (i.e. the ENCOURAGE App) designed to interrupt occupational sitting time. The objective of our study is to investigate the effect of the ENCOURAGE App on the number of breaks in sedentary time taken throughout the day. This is a single-group, time series quasi-experiment evaluating the effect of the ENCOURAGE App on breaks in sedentary time. Data will be collected at baseline pre-intervention, 1-week, 1-month and repeated monthly for 6-months thereafter. We will recruit up to 300 individuals that have downloaded the app using an electronic, mobile consent form. The primary outcome of the study will examine a change in the number of breaks in sedentary time from baseline to one-month. We will also recruit a sub-sample of 60 individuals to collect objective data on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. As the modern working environment continues to promote a sedentary lifestyle, there is an urgent need to identify cost-effective solutions that can be scaled for both small and large organizations. This study aims to develop a novel mobile health app to support employees to reduce their sedentary time and become more physically active. The trial has been registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, a registry database of privately and publicly funded clinical research studies (NCT03403270).