Abstract
In this study we investigated the influence of different levels of sustained handgrip exercise on the blood pressure responses of 12 young healthy men (mean age 21.0 ± 2.3). The exercise levels were set as 10, 30 and 50% of the maximum grip force. After 5 minutes rest, 2 minutes sustained grip movement at each level was performed, and blood pressure was measured after the rest and the grip exercise. We used the t-test for the statistical analysis for comparison of blood pressure at rest and after the grip exercise and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a post-hoc test for the effects of load intensity. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly increased at 50% load compared to both 10% load and 30% load (p<0.05). From these results, it is probable that the trigger for raising the blood pressure lies between the load intensities of 30% and 50%.
