Six months of unsupervised exercise training lowers blood pressure during moderate, but not vigorous, aerobic exercise in adults with well-healed burn injuries.

Exercise training reduces cardiovascular disease risk, partly due to arterial blood pressure (BP) lowering at rest and during fixed-load exercise. However, it is unclear whether exercise training can reduce BP at rest and during exercise in adults with well-healed burn injuries. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to test the hypothesis that six months of unsupervised exercise training reduces BP at rest and during lower-body cycle ergometry in adults with well-healed burn injuries. Thirty-nine adults (28 with well-healed burn-injuries & 11 controls) completed six months of unsupervised, progressive exercise training including endurance, resistance, and high-intensity interval components. Before and after exercise training, we measured BP at rest, during fixed-load submaximal exercise (50 & 75 watts), during fixed-intensity submaximal exercise (40 & 70% of V̇O2peak), and during maximal exercise on a lower-body cycle ergometer. We compared cardiovascular variables using two-way ANOVA (group x pre/post-exercise training [repeated factor]). Adults with well-healed burn injuries had higher diastolic BP at rest (p=0.04), which was unchanged by exercise training (p=0.26). Exercise training reduced systolic, mean, and diastolic BP during fixed-load cycling exercise at 75 watts in adults with well-healed burn injuries (p≤0.03 for all), but not controls (p≥0.67 for all). Exercise training also reduced mean and diastolic BP during exercise at 40% (p≤0.02 for both), but not 70% (p≥0.18 for both), of V̇O2peak. These data suggest that a six-month unsupervised exercise training program lowers BP during moderate, but not vigorous, aerobic exercise in adults with well-healed burn injuries.