A study of variation in cardiocirculatory parameters with different body positions during isometric exercise in young adult males

Introduction: To study the effects of exercise, how important it is to choose a posture? We aimed to characterize the possible impact of different body positions on cardiovascular parameters during and after sustained isometric handgrip (IHG) exercise. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study was carried out in 33 young adult males (mean age: 19.21±1.083 years). We recorded Blood Pressure (BP), Heart Rate (HR) and SpO2 at rest, 1st minute of exercise, at 3rd minute of exercise or prior to failure and at 2 minutes after IHG exercise at 30% of Maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) in sitting, supine and standing positions. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), Pulse pressure (PP) and Rate pressure product (RPP) were calculated from BP and HR data. Results: SBP, DBP, MAP, HR and RPP increased significantly during 1st and 3rd min of exercise and returned to resting level at 2 min after exercise in all three postures. During resting period and at 2 min after IHG exercise SBP and PP were significantly higher in supine compared with sitting and standing position, while DBP, HR and RPP were significantly increased in standing position. DBP, PP, MAP and HR changed significantly in supine, sitting and standing posture with time of exercise (two-way repeated measure ANOVA). Conclusion: IHG exercise leads to an across the board increase of all the cardiovascular parameters. The effect of posture was more pronounced at rest and during initial duration of exercise. Thus, posture may be a factor to consider in testing initial response during IHG exercise, but not for studying effects of prolonged duration of exercise.