A single session of exercise reduces blood pressure reactivity to stress: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Stressful situations are common in everyday life and disturb homeostasis. So, an exercise session is a strategy to mitigate blood pressure (BP) peaks in response to stress (i.e., BP reactivity), decreasing the cardiovascular risk. This is a systematic review and meta-analysis that aims to verify the effects of a single session of physical exercises on BP reactivity to stress in adults. The searches were performed in digital databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, SPORTDiscus, and PsycInfo) and 29 studies were included, totaling 795 individuals (quantitative analysis: k = 25, n = 659). As for exercise characteristics, 21 of the 29 studies focused on aerobic exercises, and 23 studies focused on low to moderate intensities. As for the stress tests, we have them in the following order from the most to the least frequent: stroop color and word test, cold pressor test, arithmetic test, public speaking, handgrip, trier social stress test, and study task. Favorable metanalytic results (standardized mean differences through random-effects approach) for the exercises were found, with attenuated reactivity in systolic BP (pooled effect size = − 0.38 [− 0.49; − 0.27], representing average reductions of 3.7 ± 3.8 mmHg), diastolic BP (pooled effect size = − 0.51 [− 0.70; − 0.33], representing average reductions of 2.9 ± 3.7 mmHg), and mean BP (pooled effect size = − 0.51 [− 0.72; − 0.31], representing average reductions of 4.1 ± 3.3 mmHg). So, acute physical exercise lowers systolic, diastolic, and mean blood pressure reactivity in response to stressor tasks. However, given the small magnitude of effects, the clinical relevance of this result must be interpreted with caution and be better explored.

Exercise Training Improves Blood Pressure Reactivity to Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In addition, explore the in uence of exercise characteristics (e.g., exercise mode), stress tests idiosyncrasies (e.g., type and number of stressors), and population characteristics (e.g., sex, age, and presence of hypertension) on BP reactivity after exercise training. Our hypothesis is that exercise training, attenuates BP reactivity to stress, reducing hypertensive peaks in these individuals, similar to the response already demonstrated after acute exercise [22,23].…”

“…One signi cant implication of our study is the identi cation of the gap in the literature on the effect of [23]. This added to the fact that exercise training reduces several risk factors [74], including the ability to reduce BP in hypertensive patients [75], making physical exercise the protagonist of interventions focusing on blunting hypertensive peaks.…”

“…Exercise training is one of the most prescribed non-pharmacological strategies to control high BP [21] and therefore also important to be studied under stressful situations. Previous meta-analysis about the effect of a single session of aerobic exercises (i.e., acute exercise) on BP reactivity [22,23] found attenuated hypertensive peaks, regardless of population, type of stressors, or study design characteristics. Moreover, a systematic review [24] assessed the effects of exercise training (i.e., chronic exercise) and aerobic physical tness on several cardiovascular markers and found blunted BP reactivity results, reiterating the importance of exercise to mitigate hypertensive peaks.…”

Running toward my challenges: Day-level effects of physical activity before work on appraisal of the upcoming workday and employee well-being.

“…Furthermore, there is a large body of evidence showing that engaging in a short bout of exercise decreases blood pressure (for a review, see Halliwill et al, 2013). Relatedly, there is meta-analytic evidence that a single session of exercise reduces blood pressure reactivity to stress (Mariano et al, 2022).…”

Designing, Validation, and Feasibility Analysis of Integrated Approach of Heartfulness Meditation and Yoga Protocol (IAHFNM & YP) for Hypertensive Participants

“…Alterations in homeostasis result in increased blood pressure (BP) and associated disorders such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. (Heidari et al, 2022;Mariano et al, 2023) According to the International Society of Hypertension and the American Society of Hypertension, hypertension is characterized by a consistent increase in systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP). Hypertension was classi ed as prehypertension (SBP: 120-139 mmHg, DBP: 80-89 mmHg), stage 1 hypertension (SBP: 140-159 mmHg, DBP: 90-99 mmHg) or stage 2 hypertension (SBP ≥ 160, DBP ≥ 100 mmHg).…”