The time course of selected outcome measures in healthy women aged 65-74 years when varying exercise frequency and duration of an exercise walking programme

Background: We aimed to determine the time course of resting and exercise heart rates (HR); blood pressure (BP), changes in peak VO₂, time to exhaustion (TTE) and gas exchange threshold (Tge) at a constant weekly exercise time [120 mins] with counterbalanced variations in exercise duration (60 vs. 30min) and weekly visits (2 vs. 4 .wk⁻¹ session per week). Methods: Forty-six women aged 65-74 years were randomly assigned to 2 or 4 sessions.wk⁻¹) for six weeks. Results: Principal findings: (i) significant increase in Tge at six weeks, with no significant differences between exercise frequency or duration; (ii) no significant increase in peak values for VO₂, HR, minute ventilation and respiratory quotient after six weeks exercise training (iii) significant decreases in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at rest and during exercise only in the 4 sessions.wk⁻¹ group and (iv) significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP) during exercise and post-exercise period for both groups and rapid time course changes in HR and BP. Conclusions: Exercise elicited rapid reductions in HR and SBP during exercise and post-exercise recovery periods for both groups and there was no significant interaction between exercise duration and exercise frequency.