Arterial stiffness following repeated Valsalva maneuvers and resistance exercise in young men

The purpose of this study was to compare arterial stiffness after a bout of resistance exercise (RE) and an experimental condition consisting of repeated Valsalva maneuvers (VMs). Fourteen male participants randomly completed a lower-body, unilateral RE bout and a VM bout designed to alter blood pressure (BP) in a similar pulsatile fashion. Pulse-wave velocity (PWV, measured in metres per second (m·s^-1)) was used to measure central and peripheral arterial stiffness and was assessed before and 20 min after each perturbation. Beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) was assessed during bouts using finger plethysmography. Change in systolic BP, diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, and pulse pressure were similar during both bouts. Central PWV increased after repeated VMs (7.1 ± 0.3 m/s to 7.8 ± 0.3 m/s), but not after RE (7.2 ± 0.3 m/s to 7.2 ± 0.3 m/s) (interaction, p = 0.032). There was no change in peripheral PWV after VM (8.9 ± 0.3 m/s to 9.3 ± 0.3 m/s) or RE (8.5 ± 0.2 m/s to 8.4 ± 0.2 m/s). Arterial stiffness increased after repeated VM. Even though presented with a similar BP load, arterial stiffness did not increase after acute RE. These findings suggest a role for VM in acutely altering arterial properties.