Acute effects of Mat Pilates on ambulatory blood pressure variability in post menopause women

Abstract

Background: After menopause, women increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Physical exercise is one of the treatments for reducing the incidence of these diseases, and the Pilates method consists of a complete conditioning program. Aims: To verify the responses of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) and Blood Pressure Variability after a single session of Mat Pilates in non-obese post menopause women. Methods: This is a randomized crossover study with 15 normotensive postmenopausal women, who participated in a single Mat Pilates session and a control session. The Mat Pilates session lasted 50 minutes, with 5 minutes of warm-up. In each exercise, there was 1 set of 10 repetitions with 45 seconds of rest between sets. The control session should have the same duration, but the volunteers remained seated. ABPM was assessed for 24 hours after the intervention. Statistical analysis: Two-way ANOVA with Newman-Keuls post hoc was used to analyze ABPM variables and Student's t test for analysis of blood pressure variability. Results: There was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in systolic blood pressure nor diastolic blood pressure responses during 24h, awake and sleep phases and in its variability between Pilates and Control sessions. Conclusion: Acute Mat Pilates did not reduce ABPM or its variability in non-obese postmenopausal women.Keywords: menopause, arterial pressure, exercise therapy.