Comparison of the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic and resistance training on lipid profile and blood pressure of inactive obese women with hypertension

Background and Objectives: Lack of physical activity is a worrying condition because it leads to major health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and various metabolic disorders. Exercise is a lifestyle change suggested to reduce atherogenic markers in adults. Increased physical activity and fitness are clearly associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, but the optimal type, intensity, and amount of exercise to reduce the risk factors for various cardiovascular diseases are unknown. Due to seemingly contradictory information, confusion has arisen about what exercise recommendations should be made in order to confer the greatest health benefits. Dyslipidemia is one of the most important complications of obesity with a high incidence of cardiovascular events. Previous prospective epidemiological studies have demonstrated a close association between lipid profiles and morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disease. Epidemiological evidence suggests that physically active people are 30 to 50 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease than sedentary individuals. Exercise has shown improvements in lipid profile and fat loss, whether with or without dietary restrictions or with or without weight loss. However, it is not known which exercise is the best and most effective way to improve lipid profile. High blood pressure is another complication of a sedentary lifestyle that is one of the most common medical disorders with an increased incidence of all causes of death and mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Exercise remains a fundamental treatment for the primary prevention, control and treatment of hypertension. The optimal frequency, intensity, time and type of exercise need to be defined to optimize the antihypertensive capacity of exercise, especially in children, women and the elderly, and certain ethnic groups. Increased physical activity is generally associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, probably due to improvements in its risk factors, such as improvement in lipid profiles and lowering blood pressure. Despite the many studies that have been done in examining the effects of exercise on the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, how much and what type of exercise is needed to get the best response and the most effective exercise is still unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic and resistance training on lipid profile and blood pressure in obese sedentary women with hypertension Materials and Methods: In this study, 44 obese sedentary women with hypertension participated. These patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups, A (those receiving moderate intensity of aerobic training and 3 days per week, n =11), B (those receiving moderate intensity of aerobic exercises and 5 days per week, n = 11), C (those receiving moderate intensity of resistance training, 3 days per week, n =11), and D (those receiving moderate intensity of resistance training and and 5 days per week, n = 11). The values of lipid profiles, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial blood pressure were recorded in each group before and after the intervention, and the final data were compared in each group with baseline status and compared to the other groups at the end of the study. Results: In the present study, there was a significant improvement in body weight and BMI in all four groups. After intervention in all groups, except for group A, HDL significantly increased and LDL decreased. HDL in group A was significantly lower than group C and D. Total cholesterol in group B was significantly higher than group C and D. For triglyceride levels, only a significant decrease was observed in the mean values of triglyceride group D compared to group B. Also, the mean systolic blood pressure significantly decreased in all groups except for group D and diastolic blood pressure in all 4 groups. At the end of the study, systolic blood pressure was significantly lower in group B than in groups A, C and D. while, diastolic blood pressure in group A was lower than group C and D and group B than group C and D respectively. Conclusion: All exercise protocols used in this study have shown a significant improvement in lipid profile and blood pressure systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure in sedentary overweight people with high blood pressure. But a remarkable point in this study was the observation of two different effects of aerobic and resistance training on two important risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, namely, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure. Although both exercises were effective in improving lipid profiles and blood pressure, high volume resistance exercises seemed to have the most effective in improving lipid profiles, while aerobic exercise showed the highest efficacy in improving high blood pressure. All exercise protocols used in this study showed a significant improvement in lipid profile and systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure in sedentary obese people with hypertension, but a significant point in this study Observing two different effects of aerobic and resistance training on two important risk factors for cardiovascular disease, namely dyslipidemia and hypertension. Although both groups of exercises were effective in improving lipid profile and blood pressure, high-volume resistance training seemed to be most effective in improving lipid profile, while high-volume aerobic exercise was most effective in improving high blood pressure. One of the limitations of this study was the small sample size. Therefore, conducting more comprehensive studies in a larger statistical population seems to lead to more accurate results. Another limitation of this study was the lack of attention to diet as well as the type of blood pressure medication used by patients, which may affect the results. On the other hand, considering that in some lipid and blood pressure parameters there were differences between the participating groups at the beginning of the study that did not allow us to draw a definite conclusion, it seems that the groups are matched in terms of these parameters to provide A definite conclusion is very important.