Blood Pressure in Normotensive Young Adults Is Not Influenced by Resistance Training Rest Interval Duration

Introduction: We aimed to examine the effect of resistance training rest interval length on chronic changes of systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP).Methods: 27 normotensive young adults were randomly assigned to one of three rest interval length groups: 30-sec, 90-sec, or 150-sec. Baseline and posttest SBP and DBP measurements were obtained. Participants resistance trained and logged their sessions in a smartphone application three times per week for 8 weeks. They also measured their blood pressure weekly with a home kit. Changes in SBP and DBP between the three groups were tested using a mixed model 3 x 2 ANOVA analysis with follow-up post-hocs as necessary.Results: There was no significant interaction between rest interval group and time for SBP or DBP. For SBP, there was a significant main effect for time, p<0.001 (pre: 115 mmHg vs. post: 108 mmHg).Conclusions: SBP and DBP were not significantly influenced by rest interval length over time. The resistance training program had no effect on DBP but significantly decreased SBP regardless of rest interval. These results indicate that young normotensive adults may use short, moderate, or long duration rest intervals to elicit reductions in SBP.