Vascular Adaptation to Indoor Cycling Exercise in Premenopausal Women

Abstract

The early vascular adaptation to indoor cycling, a popular activity at many fitness centres, is incompletely evaluated. Forty two healthy women (21–45 years) underwent measurements of arterial wall properties and geometry as well as a maximal bicycle exercise test before and after a 3 months period during which 21 of the women joined indoor cycling classes at a gym 2–3 times per week, while 21 women served as time controls. Peak work load increased by in average 16% (p<0.001) and ascending aortic diameter by 4% (p<0.01) in the exercise group, while unchanged in control group. The exercise intervention had no significant influence on the local intima-media thickness, blood pressure or the pulse pressure wave configuration while the carotid artery distensibility (p<0.05) was higher after the intervention. There was a positive correlation between change in (Δ) peak work load and Δ-diameter of tubular ascending aorta (r=0.42, p<0.01) in the exercise group. In conclusion, after only 3 months of bicycle exercise training, signs of central arterial remodelling were seen in premenopausal women, which was associated to improvement in exercise capacity.

Importance of Sensitive Vascular Measurements for Evaluating Effects of Lifestyle in Premenopausal Women

“…Interestingly, changes in different vascular measurements were detected after different types of exercise training (indoor cycling, endurance, or circuit style resistance training), suggesting that subclinical vascular adaptations to exercise might be modality specific. These data illustrate the need for more thorough vascular characterization in larger samples of premenopausal women after different types of exercise interventions ( 1 , 2 , 8 – 11 ). Effects of endogenous and exogenous ovarian hormones should also be evaluated or accounted for, as some hormones have been linked to vascular structure and function and CVD risk ( Table 1 ) and can be measured in clinic and research settings.…”

“…We propose that more sensitive measures of vascular structure and function are needed to understand how lifestyle influences CVD risk and better evaluate the effects of lifestyle behaviors and lifestyle interventions in premenopausal women. Some studies that employed more sensitive vascular measurements pre- and post- exercise intervention, such as central BP, arterial stiffness and distensibility, carotid intima-media thickness, or ventricular-vascular coupling, reported improvements in some of these measures while brachial BP stayed the same ( 1 , 2 , 8 – 11 ). Interestingly, changes in different vascular measurements were detected after different types of exercise training (indoor cycling, endurance, or circuit style resistance training), suggesting that subclinical vascular adaptations to exercise might be modality specific.…”

Prenatal Exercise and Cardiovascular Health (PEACH) Study: Impact on the Vascular System

“…Specifically, in healthy trained populations, vascular conductance is increased (lower resistance) by vascular remodeling (increased diameter) to accommodate an increase in resting cardiac output and shear stress (16). Moreover, exercise training also increases carotid artery distensibility (decrease stiffness [18]), independent of a change in cardiorespiratory fitness (19).…”