The effect of interval sprinting exercise on vascular function and aerobic fitness of post-menopausal women

Tze Y. Ho, Georgia P. Redmayne, Aengus Tran, Diana Liu, Mark Butlin, Alberto Avolio, Stephen H. Boutcher, Yati N. Boutcher*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    17 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Menopausal transition accelerates an age-associated decrease in vascular function and a decline in aerobic fitness. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of 8 weeks of interval sprinting cycle ergometer exercise on arterial stiffness, basal forearm blood flow, and aerobic fitness of post-menopausal women. Sixty overweight post-menopausal women were randomized into either exercise (Ex, n = 30) or control (C, n = 30) groups. Ex participants completed 24 interval sprinting exercise (ISE) sessions over 8 weeks. Each 20-minute ISE session comprised of alternating 8 seconds sprints and 12 seconds of light pedaling. Arterial stiffness assessed through ankle-brachial pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and augmentation index (AIx), basal forearm blood flow (FBF) assessed using venous occlusion, and aerobic fitness were assessed before and after the intervention. baPWV was significantly decreased in the Ex group by 7.2%, P =.03, whereas AIx demonstrated a 10% decrease, P =.002. No changes were found in basal FBF. Aerobic fitness was significantly increased, P =.002, in the Ex group (14%) with no change occurring in the control group.ISE training, despite minimal exercise commitment time (8 hours over 8 weeks), significantly lowered the arterial stiffness and increased the aerobic fitness of post-menopausal women. These results suggest that ISE positively influences the negative change in arterial stiffness and aerobic fitness that typically accompanies menopause.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)312-321
    Number of pages10
    JournalScandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports
    Volume30
    Issue number2
    Early online date11 Oct 2019
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Feb 2020

    Keywords

    • aerobic fitness
    • arterial stiffness
    • interval sprinting exercise
    • limb blood flow
    • overweight women
    • vascular dysfunction

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