On the effect of a single intense resistance exercise session on some cardiovascular indices in professional cyclists

Research done in most societies has confirmed that high blood pressure or hypertension increases various cardiovascular diseases in a person by about 2 to 3 times. This study aimed to recognize the effect of an intense resistance training session on some cardiovascular indices in professional cyclists. The subjects of this semi-experimental study consisted of 30 cyclists participating in this study voluntarily. They were selected via convenience methods and randomly divided into two experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups. The experimental group performed intense resistance training for one and a half hours. The control group did not receive any steady-state sports activities during this interval. The variables intended by the subjects in both groups were evaluated some 24 hours before the training started and 24 hours after the training ended. Data analysis was performed using dependent and independent t-test using SPSS16 statistical software at a significant (α ≤0.05) level. The results suggested that one single intense resistance training session could have an effect on some cardiovascular indices among professional cyclists. This is while, after one hour of inactive recovery, its levels declined in both groups, whereas in the group receiving steady-state training, the levels remained above the baseline after one hour of recovery. However, after plasma volume was corrected, fibrinogen levels in the interval group decreased significantly compared to the baseline levels. Therefore, a single session of intense resistance training was found to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure and resting heart rate (p≤0.05).