The Role of Exercise Blood Pressure in Hypertension: Measurement, Mechanisms and Management.

Hypertension affects one in three adults globally and is the leading modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. While blood pressure measurements at rest are fundamental to the detection and management of hypertension, abnormal blood pressure responses to exercise, namely an exaggerated exercise blood pressure (EEBP), can provide additional independent information about current and future hypertension risk. This paper summarizes a symposium entitled: "The Role of Exercise BP in Hypertension: Measurement, Mechanisms and Management" included at the 2023 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting, which presented a timely discussion about the clinical utility of EEBP.

Effects of exercise on autonomic cardiovascular control in individuals with chronic, motor-complete spinal cord injury: an exploratory randomised clinical trial.

Study Design: Secondary analysis of a clinical trial.

Objective: To assess the impact of 6 months of arm cycle ergometry training (ACET), or body weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT), on autonomic cardiovascular responses to a laboratory sit-up test (SUT) in individuals with chronic (≥1-year post-injury) spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Tertiary Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, Canada.

A Characterization of the Cardiac Physiology and Aortic Pulse Wave Properties of Artistic Swimmers Across Competitive Levels.

Purpose: The distinct physical and environmental stressors of artistic swimming (previously termed synchronized swimming) result in unique hemodynamic stimuli. Given that the hemodynamic stress associated with participation in an exercise modality drives adaptation of the heart and central vasculature, artistic swimming may produce a distinct cardiovascular phenotype. Presumably, athletes competing at the highest levels also have greater training exposure and, thus, exhibit more adaptation.

Exercise systolic blood pressures are unaffected by time of day in healthy young adults.

Blood pressure (BP) assessment during exercise testing has the capacity to identify exaggerated exercise BP (EEBP). BP has a circadian rhythm; therefore, exercise BPs may change throughout the day complicating EEBP identification. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of time of day on exercise BP in healthy young adults.

Selectively breeding for high voluntary physical activity in female mice does not bestow inherent characteristics that resemble eccentric remodeling of the heart, but the mini-muscle phenotype does.

Physical activity engagement results in a variety of positive health outcomes, including a reduction in cardiovascular disease risk partially due to eccentric remodeling of the heart. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if four replicate lines of High Runner mice that have been selectively bred for voluntary exercise on wheels have a cardiac phenotype that resembles the outcome of eccentric remodeling. Adult females (average age 55 days) from the 4 High Runner and 4 non-selected control lines were anaesthetized via vaporized isoflurane, then echocardiographic images were collected and analyzed for structural and functional differences.

Joint Injury, Osteoarthritis, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Former National Football League Athletes: An NFL-LONG Study.

Context: Individuals with lower extremity osteoarthritis (OA) have a 25% greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than those without OA. The prevalence of traumatic joint injuries among National Football League (NFL) players exposes these athletes to an elevated risk for OA and potentially a greater risk of cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) and CVD.

Objectives: To examine the associations between a history of lower extremity joint injury, lower extremity OA, and the prevalence of CRFs and CVD among former NFL athletes.

Acute physiological responses to high-intensity interval exercise in patients with coronary artery disease.

Purpose: Time spent closer to maximal effort during exercise is a potent stimulus for cardiorespiratory adaptations. The primary purpose was to determine which high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) protocol provided the greatest physiological stimulus by comparing time spent ≥ 90% peak oxygen consumption (V̇Opeak) and heart rate reserve (HRR) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in response to 3 HIIE protocols and the exercise standard of care, moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE). A secondary purpose was to assess protocol preference.

Cardiac Remodeling in Elite Aquatic Sport Athletes.

Objective: To characterize and compare the sport-specific cardiac structure of elite swimmers (SW), water polo players (WP), and artistic swimmers (AS).

Design: A cross-sectional assessment of elite aquatic athletes' hearts.

Setting: The athletes' village at the 2019 FINA World Championships.

Program Evaluation and Preliminary Efficacy of Fitness and Skill-Based High-Intensity Interval Training in Physical Education.

Previous school-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT) interventions have focused on the quantity of physical activity (PA) achieved during physical education (PE) rather than students' PE experiences, including enjoyment. : To evaluate the feasibility of a fitness- and skill based HIIT intervention guided by the Self Determination Theory. : For this pretest-posttest randomized controlled 6-week pilot study, 4-5 grade students (15 boys, 30 girls; age = 10.

Temporal Changes of Cardiac Structure, Function, and Mechanics During Sub-acute Cervical and Thoracolumbar Spinal Cord Injury in Humans: A Case-Series.

Individuals with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) experience deleterious changes in cardiac structure and function. However, knowledge on when cardiac alterations occur and whether this is dependent upon neurological level of injury remains to be determined. Transthoracic echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular structure, function, and mechanics in 10 male individuals (median age 34 years, lower and upper quartiles 32-50) with cervical ( = 5, c-SCI) or thoracolumbar ( = 5, tl-SCI) motor-complete SCI at 3- and 6-months post-injury.

Spinal cord injury impairs cardiac function due to impaired bulbospinal sympathetic control.

Spinal cord injury chronically alters cardiac structure and function and is associated with increased odds for cardiovascular disease. Here, we investigate the cardiac consequences of spinal cord injury on the acute-to-chronic continuum, and the contribution of altered bulbospinal sympathetic control to the decline in cardiac function following spinal cord injury. By combining experimental rat models of spinal cord injury with prospective clinical studies, we demonstrate that spinal cord injury causes a rapid and sustained reduction in left ventricular contractile function that precedes structural changes.

The Identification and Management of High Blood Pressure Using Exercise Blood Pressure: Current Evidence and Practical Guidance.

High blood pressure (BP) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The identification of high BP is conventionally based on in-clinic (resting) BP measures, performed within primary health care settings. However, many cases of high BP go unrecognised or remain inadequately controlled.

Differences in Left Ventricular Function at Rest and during Isometric Handgrip Exercise in Elite Aquatic Sport Athletes.

Purpose: Elite swimmers (Sw) have lower diastolic function compared with elite runners, possibly as an adaptation to the aquatic training environment. Water polo players (WP) and artistic swimmers (AS) are exposed to the same hydrostatic pressures as Sw, but they are subject to different training intensities, postures, and hemodynamic stressors. Our purpose was to compare resting and exercising cardiac function in elite Sw, WP, and AS, to characterize the influence of training for aquatic sport on left ventricular (LV) adaptation.

Reliability of blood pressure responses used to define an exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise in young healthy adults.

Exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses (EBPR) to exercise are prognostic of future cardiovascular risk. The primary objective of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of BP responses used to categorize EBPR as absent or present. Twenty-seven healthy adults [21(2) years; 12 males] with resting BP < 130/80 mmHg completed a modified Bruce protocol treadmill exercise test on two visits separated by 6 (3) days.

Longitudinal Changes in Ultrasound-Assessed Femoral Cartilage Thickness in Individuals from 4 to 6 Months Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Objective: Diagnostic ultrasound provides a valid assessment of cartilage health that has been used to observe cross-sectional cartilage thickness differences post-ACLR (anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction), but has not been used longitudinally during early recovery post-ACLR.

Design: The purpose of this study was to assess longitudinal changes in femoral cartilage thickness via ultrasound in individuals at 4 to 6 months post-ACLR and compared to healthy controls. Twenty participants (50% female, age = 21.

Acute Cardiometabolic and Perceptual Responses to Individual and Group-Based Body-Weight Resistance Exercise in Girls.

Unlabelled: Girls' acute responses to group-based high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) are not well characterized.

Purpose: To compare acute responses to treadmill-based HIIE (TM) and body-weight resistance exercise circuit (CIRC) and to CIRC performed in a small-group setting (group CIRC).

Method: Nineteen girls (9.

Examining the relationship between arterial stiffness and swim-training volume in elite aquatic athletes.

Purpose: Factors such as prone body position, hydrostatic pressure, and intermittent breath-holding subject aquatic athletes to unique physical and environmental stressors during swimming exercise. The relationship between exposure to aquatic exercise and both arterial stiffness and wave reflection properties is not well-understood. This study assessed central artery stiffness and wave reflection properties in elite pool-swimmers (SW), long-distance open-water swimmers (OW), and water polo players (WP) to examine the relationship between these variables and aquatic exercise.

Sex Differences in Cardiometabolic Health Indicators after HIIT in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

Purpose: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an independent predictor of mortality, and females typically achieve smaller improvements in CRF than males after exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to produce superior improvements in CRF than traditional cardiac rehabilitation, but the sex differences are unknown. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate sex differences for changes in CRF and cardiometabolic health indicators after HIIT in adults with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Associations between left ventricular structure and function with cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in individuals with cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord injury.

Study Design: Cross-sectional.

Objective: It is known that left ventricular mass (LVM) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated to fat-free mass (FFM).  It is unknown if these factors associated with left ventricular (LV) structure and function outcomes in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Cardiac remodeling in middle-aged endurance athletes: relation between signal-averaged electrocardiogram and LV mass.

The relationship between structural and electrical remodeling in the heart, particularly after long-standing endurance training, remains unclear. Signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) may provide a more sensitive method to evaluate cardiac remodeling than a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Accurate measures of electrical function (SAECG filtered QRS duration (fQRSd) and late potentials (LP) and left-ventricular (LV) mass (cardiac magnetic resonance, CMR) can allow an assessment of structural remodeling and QRS prolongation.

Alterations in Cardiac Function Following Endurance Exercise Are Not Duration Dependent.

Cardiac function has been shown to transiently decrease following prolonged exercise, with greater durations related to increased impairment. However, the prospective assessment of exercise duration on cardiac performance is rare, and the influence of relative exercise intensity is typically not assessed in relation to these changes. The aim of this study was to determine whether progressively longer running distances over the same course would elicit greater cardiac impairment.

Construct validation of the leisure time physical activity questionnaire for people with SCI (LTPAQ-SCI).

Study Design: Cross-sectional construct validation study.

Objectives: To test the construct validity of the Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire for People with Spinal Cord Injury (LTPAQ-SCI) by examining associations between the scale responses and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in a sample of adults living with spinal cord injury (SCI).

Setting: Three university-based laboratories in Canada.