Comparison of heart-rate and blood-pressure increases during isokinetic eccentric versus isometric exercise in older adults

The authors compared heart-rate and blood-pressure responses to typical isometric (ISO) and isokinetic (90degrees/s) eccentric (ECC) resistance-training protocols in older adults. Twenty healthy older adults (74 +/- 5 years old) performed randomly ordered ISO and isokinetic ECC exercise (3 sets of 10 repetitions) at a target intensity of 100% of their peak ISO torque value. Heart rate and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures were recorded continuously, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) and rate-pressure product (RPP) were calculated. ECC peak torque (139 +/- 33 N . m) was significantly greater than ISO peak torque (115 +/- 26 N . m; p < .001). All variables increased significantly (p < .001) during both ISO and ECC exercise. Changes in SBP, DBP, MAP, and RPP were significantly greater during ISO exercise than during ECC exercise (p < .001). Clinically, an isokinetic ECC exercise program enables older adults to work at the same torque output with less cardiovascular stress than ISO exercise.