The Maximum Strength, the Isometric Endurance and the Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Responses to Isometric Exercise of a Large Number of Women.

Lind-AR; Burse-R; Petrofsky-JS

Department of Physiology, Saint Louis University Medical School :26 pages

00102817

Physiological responses to isometric exercise were measured in 83 women, aged 19 to 65 years. Maximum voluntary grip strength (MVC) was determined for each subject. Blood pressure, heart rate and endurance time were measured while subjects maintained a tension of 40 percent of their MVC. Postmenopausal women had lower average MVC and endurance values than premenopausal women. Age was associated with a reduction of absolute MVC, whereas endurance at 40 percent MVC increased with age. At rest, age was associated with a decreased heart rate. The heart rates of all women increased during the endurance contraction, and the increase was greater for the younger than for the older women. Systolic blood pressure at rest was higher with age, and this relationship was especially evident throughout the isometric contraction; systolic pressure increased in all the women but more so in the older than in the younger women. Diastolic blood pressure was not changed with age at rest, and increases during isometric exercise were unrelated to age. The authors note that the resting and exercise heart rates measured in the women are comparable to those previously reported for men. They conclude that menopause enhances the age effects on strength and endurance.

NIOSH-Contract; Contract-099-71-0021; Physical-exercise; Heart-rate; Sex-factors; Physiology; Blood-pressure; Age-factors;

Contract;

PB82-214289

A01

Contract-099-71-0021

Department of Physiology, Saint Louis University Medical School, NIOSH Contract No. 099-71-0021

MO;

Department of Physiology Saint Louis University Medical School St. Louis, MO