Effect of short moderate intensity exercise bouts on cardiovascular function and maximal oxygen consumption in sedentary older adults

BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2020 Feb 28;6(1):e000672. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000672. eCollection 2020.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate effect of <10 min moderate intensity exercise on cardiovascular function and maximal oxygen consumption ( V ˙ O2max) among sedentary adults.

Methods: We studied 53 sedentary urbanites aged ≥50 years, randomised into: (1) male (MS) and (2) female (FS) undertaking three short-duration exercise (5-10 min) daily, and (3) male (ML) and (4) female (FL) exercising 30-60 min 3-5 days weekly. Resting systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate and V ˙ O2max were measured at baseline and 8 weekly for 24 weeks.

Results: At baseline, 50% MS, 61.5% ML, 53.8% FS and 53.8% FL had SBP ≥120 mm Hg, and 14.3% MS, 53.8% ML, 23.1% FS and 38.5% FL had DBP ≥80 mm Hg. At 24 weeks, where SBP remained ≥120 mm Hg, values decreased from 147±19.2 to 132.3±9.6 mm Hg (50% of MS), from 144±12.3 to 128±7.0 mm Hg (23.1% of ML), from 143.1±9.6 to 128.0±7.0 mm Hg (53.8% of FS) and from 152.3±23.7 to 129±3.7 mm Hg (30.8% of FL). For DBP ≥80 mm Hg, MS and FS percentages maintained, but values decreased from 101±15.6 to 84.5±0.7 mm Hg (MS) and 99.0±3.6 to 87.7±4.9 mm Hg (FS). In ML and FL, percentage with DBP ≥80 mm Hg dropped to 15.4% (86.1±6.5 to 82.5±3.5 mm Hg) and (91.4±5.3 to 83.5±0.71 mm Hg). V ˙ O2max increased from 26.1±4.4 to 32.0±6.2 for MS, from 25.8±5.1 to 28.8±5.4 for ML (group differences p=0.02), from 20.2±1.8 to 22.7±2.0 for FS and from 21.2±1.9 to 24.2±2.7 for FL (groups differences p=0.38).

Conclusion: Accumulated moderate intensity exercise bouts of <10 min confer similar-to-better cardiovascular and V ˙ O2max improvements compared with current recommendations among sedentary adults.

Keywords: cardiovascular function; maximal oxygen consumption; sedentary; short and long moderate intensity exercise sessions.