THE EFFECTS OF 16 WEEKS OF CROSS TRAINING ON RESTING BLOOD PRESSURE IN FIREFIGHTER RECRUITS 79:

This study was designed to determine the effect of a 16 week cross training program on resting blood pressures in 42 male normotensive firefighter recruits (Age = 27.4 ± 3.4 yrs). Blood pressures (mmHg, by auscultation), heart rate (HR, b/min),body weight (BWT, kg),%fat (skinfolds), and lean body mass (LBM, kg) were measured before and after training. Subjects participated in 3 exercise sessions per week each lasting 90 min with 40 min of circuit weight training (CWT) and 30 minutes of aerobic conditioning (AC) lasting 16 weeks. The CWT consisted of 12 stations consiting of 40 sec exercise (10-12 reps to failure) with 80 sec of rest. AC consisted of 30 minutes of aerobic training at about 76% of HRmax. After training, SBP(123.5 ± 11.9 pre vs 118.4 ± 9.2 post). MAP (89.8 ± 8.8 pre vs 87.1 ± 6.9 post) and HR (69 ± 11 pre vs 64 ± 8 post) were reduced, while BWT (82.8 ± 13.2 pre, 84.3 ± 12.6 post) and LBM (68.5 ± 7.7 pre, 69.8 ± 7.5 post) were increased,(p < 0.05). In conclusion, a 16 week combined CWT/AC program was effective in reducing SBP by 5.1 mmHg. The magnitude of this reduction is consistent with changes that are observed following a purely endurance training program and was achieved in the face of an increase in LBM with no change in percent fat.